150 * CON 
then come to be furnifhed with fewer or more Ample 
ideas from without, according as the objefts they con¬ 
verfe ■with afford greater or lefs variety. Locke. —To con¬ 
vey the thoughts reciprocally in talk : 
Go therefore half this day, as friend with friend, 
Converfe with Adam. Milton. 
Much lefs can bird with beaft, or filh with fowl, 
So well converfe. Milton. 
To difeourfe familiarly upon any fubieft: with on be¬ 
fore the thing.—We had converfed fo often on that fub- 
ieft, and he had communicated his thoughts of it fo 
fully to me, that 1 had not the lead remaining difficulty. 
Dryden. —To have commerce with a different fex.—Being 
afked by fome of her fex, in how long a time s woman 
might be allowed to pray to the gods, after having con - 
vcrj'ed with a man ? If it were a hufband, fays the, the 
next day ; if a ftranger, never. Guardian. 
CON'VERSE,/ [from the verb. It is fornetimes ac¬ 
cented on the firft fyllable, fornetimes on the laft. Pope 
has ufed both : the firft is more analogical.] Converfa- 
iion ; manner of difeourfing in familiar life : 
Gen’rous converfe , a foul exempt from pride. 
And love to praife with reafon on his fide. Pope. 
Form’d by thy converfe happily to fleer 
From grave to gay, from lively to fevere. Pope. 
Acquaintance; cohabitation; familiarity.—Though it 
be neceffitated, by its relation to flefli, to a terreftrial 
converfe ; yet it is, like the fun, without contaminating 
its beams. Glanville. —[In geometry; {romvonvcrfusf A 
propofition is faid to be the converfe of another, when, 
after drawing a conclufion from fomething firft fuppofed, 
we return again,'and, making a fuppofition of what had 
before been concluded, draw from thence as a conclufion 
what before was made the fuppofition. Thus, when it 
is fuppofed that the two fides of a triangle are equal, 
and thence demonftrate or conclude that the two angles 
oppofite to thofe fides are equal alfo ; then the converfe 
is to fuppofe that the two angles of a triangle are equal, 
and thence to prove or conclude that the fides oppofite 
to thofe angles are alfo equal. 
CON'VERSE DIRECTION,/, in aftrology, is ufed 
in oppofition to direft direction; that is, by the latter 
the promoter is carried to the fignificator, according to 
the order of the figns : whei'eas by the other it is carried 
from eaft to weft, contrary to the order of the figns. 
CONVER'SELY, adv. With change of order; in a 
contrary order ; reciprocally. 
CONVERSE'RA, an ifland in the Adriatic, near the 
coaft of Iftria. Lat. 45. 20. N. Ion. 31. 30. E. Ferro. 
CONVERSION,/ [ converfo , Lat.] Change from 
one ft ate into another ; tranfmutation.— The converfion of 
the. aliment into fat, is not properly nutrition. Arbuthnot. 
—’Change from reprobation to grace, from a bad to a 
holy life. Change from one religion to another. —They 
palled through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the con- 
v erf on of the Gentile^. Acts, xv. 4. — The interchange of 
terms in an argument; as, no virtue is vice ; no vice is vir¬ 
tue. Chambers. 
CONVERSION of Equations, in algebra, is tlje 
reducing of a fractional equation into an integral one. 
CONVERSION, / in law, where a perfon finding or 
having the goods of another in his polTeftion, converts 
them to his own ufe, without the confent of the owner, 
and for which the proprietor may maintain an aftion of 
trover and converfion againft him. Andretufal to reftore 
goods is, primd.facie , fufficient evidence of a converfion, 
though it may not amount to a converfion, 10R.ep.5t>. 
3 Comm. 152. 
CONVBRSTVE, adj. Ccvnverfable ; fociable. 
To CONYE'Kf, v. a. [converto, Lat.] To change in¬ 
to another fubftance ; to tranfmute.—If the whole at- 
mofphere was converted into water, it would make no 
more than eleven yards water about the earth. Burnet ,—. 
CON 
To change from one religion to another.'—Auguftine is 
converted by St. Ambrofe’s fermon, when he came to it 
on no fuch defign. Hammond. —To turn from a bad to a 
good life.—He which converteth the finner from tire error 
of his way, fhall fave a foul from death, and ftuill hide 
a multitude of fins. James, v. 20.—Then will I teach 
tranfgreftors thy ways,' and finners (hall be converted unto 
thee. Pfalm li. 13.—To turn towards any point.—Cryftal 
will cailify into eleftricity, and convert the needle freely 
placed. Brown. —To apply to any ufe ; to appropriate.— 
The abundance of the fea fhall be converted unto thee, 
the forces of the Gentiles fhall come unto thee. Ifaiah , 
lx. 3. — To change one propofition into another, fo that 
what was the fubjeft of the firft becomes the predicate 
of the fecond'. 
To CONVE'RT, v. n. To undergo a change ; to be 
tranfmuted : 
The love of wicked friends converts to fear ; 
That fear, to hate. Shakefpeare. 
CON'VERT,/ A perfon converted from one opinion 
or one praftice to another.—Let us not imagine that the 
firft converts only of Chriftianity were concerned to defend 
their religion.—The convert Jews, who formerly refided in 
England, were called converfos. Henry III. built an houfe 
for them in London, and allowed them a competent pro- 
vifion for their lives; and this houfe was called domus 
converforum. But by reafon of the valt expences of the 
wars, and the great increafe of thofe converts, they be¬ 
came a burden to the crown ; fo that they were placed in 
abbeys and monafteries for their fupportand maintenance. 
And the Jews being afterwards baniihed, Edward III. 
in the fifty-firft year of his reign, gave this houfe which 
had been ufed for the converted Jews, for the keeping 
of the rolls ; and it is faid to be the fame which was till 
lately enjoyed by the mafter of the rolls. 
CONVER'TER, f. One that makes converts. 
CONVERTIBILITY, / The quality of being pof- 
fible to be converted. 
CON VER'TIBLE, adj. Sufceptible of change ; tranf- 
mutable ; capable of tranfmutation.—Minerals are not 
convertible into another fpecies, though of the fame ge¬ 
nus ; nor reducible into another genus. Harvey .—So much 
alike as that one may be ufed for the other. — Though it 
be not the real elfence of any fubftance, it is the l’pecific 
elfence, to which our name belongs, and is convertible 
with it. Locke. 
CONVER'TIBLY, adv. Reciprocally; with inter¬ 
change of terms. — There never was any perfon ungrate¬ 
ful, who was not alfo proud ; nor, convcrtibly, any one 
proud, who was not equally ungrateful. South. 
CON'VERTITE, /. [ converti. , Fr.J A convert; one 
converted from another opinion. Not in ufe. 
Since you are a gentle convertite, 
My tongue fhall hufti again this ftorm of war. Shakefp. 
CON'VEX, adj. [convexus^ Lat.] Rifing in a circular 
form ; oppofite to concave. —It is the duty of a painter, 
even in this alfo, to imitate the convex mirror, and to 
place nothing which glares at the border of his pifture. 
Dryden. 
CON'VEX,/ A convex body; a body fwelling ex¬ 
ternally into a circular form : 
A comet draws a long extended blaze ; 
From eaft to weft burns through tlr ethereal frame, 
And half heav’n’s convex glitters with the flame. Ticket. 
CONVEX'ED, part. adj. Formed'convex ; protube¬ 
rant in a circular form.—Dolphins are ftraight; nor have 
they their fpine convcxcd, or more conliderably embowed 
than either (harks, porpoifes, whales, or other cetaceous 
animals. Brown. 
■CONVEX'EDLY, adv. In a convex form.—They he 
drawn convexcdly. crooked in one piece ; yet the dolphin, 
that carrieth Arion, is concavoufly inverted, and hath 
its fpine depreifed, Brown. 
CONVEX'ITY, 
