converso

Forms

conversō (present infinitive conversāre, perfect active conversāvī, supine conversātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin con- + versō (“to turn often”).^[2] Wiktionary instead treats it as the frequentative of convertō (“to turn round”), formed with the suffix -tō.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest record is in Cicero's Timaeus, where the soul turns itself round, animus se ipse conversans.^[4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The active verb was rare and meant to turn round or in every direction.^[4][6] Seneca used it of turning something over in the mind, pondering a wholesome thought.^[3][6][2] In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to turn or change.^[7]

The deponent conversor, “to live with, keep company with”, was commoner after Augustus, and a favourite word of Seneca;^[4] the Oxford Latin Dictionary treats it as a separate verb,^[2] and the MLW refers medieval converso partly to that verb and partly to convertō.^[8]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero writes of the soul turning itself round.^[4][3][9]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of turning a thought over in the mind.^[3][6][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To turn round, turn in every direction.^[2][4][6]
2. To turn over in the mind, ponder.^[2][3]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To turn, change.^[7]

Related words

• conversor
• convertō
• versō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
8. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de