\Con`ver*sa"tion\, n. [OE. conversacio (in senses 1
& 2), OF. conversacion, F. conversation, fr. L. conversatio
frequent abode in a place, intercourse, LL. also, manner of
life.]
1. General course of conduct; behavior. [Archaic]
         Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel.
                                               --Philip. i.
                                               27.
2. Familiar intercourse; intimate fellowship or association;
   close acquaintance. ``Conversation with the best
   company.'' --Dryden.
         I set down, out of long experience in business and
         much conversation in books, what I thought pertinent
         to this business.                     --Bacon.
3. Commerce; intercourse; traffic. [Obs.]
         All traffic and mutual conversation.  --Hakluyt.
4. Colloquial discourse; oral interchange of sentiments and
   observations; informal dialogue.
         The influence exercised by his [Johnson's]
         conversation was altogether without a parallel.
                                               --Macaulay.
5. Sexual intercourse; as, criminal conversation.
Syn: Intercourse; communion; commerce; familiarity;
     discourse; dialogue; colloquy; talk; chat.
Usage: {Conversation}, {Talk}. There is a looser sense of
       these words, in which they are synonymous; there is a
       stricter sense, in which they differ. Talk is usually
       broken, familiar, and versatile. Conversation is more
       continuous and sustained, and turns ordinarily upon
       topics or higher interest. Children talk to their
       parents or to their companions; men converse together
       in mixed assemblies. Dr. Johnson once remarked, of an
       evening spent in society, that there had been a great
       deal of talk, but no conversation.