c.1200, covent, cuvent, from Anglo-French covent, from Old French convent, from Latin conventus "assembly," used in Medieval Latin for "religious house," originally past participle of convenire "come together" (see convene). Not exclusively feminine until 18c. The form with restored Latin -n- emerged early 15c. The Middle English form remains in London's Covent Garden district (notorious late 18c. for brothels), so called because it had been the garden of a defunct monastery.
COVENT GARDEN ABBESS. A bawd.
COVENT GARDEN AGUE. The venereal diſeaſe.
["Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1796]
early 15c., "agreement," from Middle French convention and directly from Latin conventionem (nominative conventio) "meeting, assembly, covenant," noun of action from past participle stem of convenire (see convene).
late 15c., "of the nature of an agreement," from Late Latin conventionalis "pertaining to convention or agreement," from Latin conventionem (see convention). Meaning "of the nature of a convention" is from 1812, now rare; "established by social convention" is from 1761; that of "following tradition" is from 1831; that of "non-nuclear" is from 1955. Realted: Conventionality; conventionally.
1690s, from Late Latin convergere "to incline together" from com- "together" (see com-) + vergere "to bend" (see verge (v.)). Related: Converged; converging.
mid-14c., "living together, having dealings with others," also "manner of conducting oneself in the world;" from Old French conversation, from Latin conversationem (nominative conversatio) "act of living with," noun of action from past participle stem of conversari "to live with, keep company with," literally "turn about with," from Latin com- "with" (see com-) + vertare, frequentative of vertere (see versus).
Specific sense of "talk" is 1570s. Used as a synonym for "sexual intercourse" from at least 1511, hence criminal conversation, legal term for adultery from late 18c. Related: Conversationalist; conversationist.
"to communicate (with)," 1590s; earlier "to move about, live, dwell" (mid-14c.), from Old French converser "to talk" (12c.), from Latin conversari (see conversation). Related: Conversed; conversing.
"exact opposite," 1560s, from Latin conversus "turn around," past participle of convertere "to turn about" (see convert). Originally mathematical. The noun is attested from 1550s in mathematics. Related: Conversely.
mid-14c., originally of religion, from French conversion, from Latin conversionem (nominative conversatio), noun of action from past participle stem of convertere (see convert (v.)). General sense of "transformation" is early 15c. Of buildings, from 1921. Conversion disorder "hysteria" (attested from 1946 but said to have been coined by Freud) was in DSM-IV (1994).
c.1300, from Old French convertir, from Vulgar Latin *convertire, from Latin convertere "turn around, transform," from com- "together" (see com-) + vertere "to turn" (see versus). Originally in the religious sense. The Latin word is glossed in Old English by gecyrren, from cierran "to turn, return." Related: Converted; converting.
late 14c., from Old French convertible (13c.), from Late Latin convertibilis "changeable," from Latin convertere (see convert (v.)). The noun is recorded from 1610s; meaning "automobile with a fold-down top" is from 1916.
1570s, from Middle French convexe, from Latin convexus "vaulted, arched," past participle of convehere "to bring together," from com- "together," or "thoroughly" (see com-) + vehere "to bring" (see vehicle). Possibly from the idea of vaults carried together to meet at the point of a roof. Related: Convexity. Convex lens is from 1822.
c.1300, "to go along with;" late 14c., "to carry, transport;" from Anglo-French conveier, from Old French convoier "to escort" (Modern French convoyer), from Vulgar Latin *conviare "to accompany on the way," from Latin com- "together" (see com-) + via "way, road" (see via). It was a euphemism for "steal" 15c.-17c., which helped broaden its meaning. Related: Conveyed; conveying.
mid-15c., "act of conveying," from convey + -ance. Meaning "document by which something is legally conveyed" is from 1570s; sense "means of transportation" is attested from 1590s. Related: Conveyanced; conveyancing.
mid-14c., from Latin convictus, past participle of convincere "to 'overcome' in argument" (see convince). Replaced Old English verb oferstælan. Related: Convicted; convicting.
mid-15c., "the proving of guilt," from Late Latin convictionem (nominative convictio) "proof, refutation," noun of action from past participle stem of convincere (see convince). Meaning "mental state of being convinced" is from 1690s; that of "firm belief, a belief held as proven" is from 1841.
1520s, "to overcome in argument," from Latin convincere "to overcome decisively," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + vincere "to conquer" (see victor). Meaning "to firmly persuade" is from c.1600. Related: Convinced; convincing; convincingly.
1640s, from French convive, from Latin conviva "one who feasts with others," from convivere (see convivial). In mid-19c., also "woman 'who lives in the same house with a number of others.' "
1660s, "pertaining to a feast," from Late Latin convivialis, from Latin convivium "a feast," from convivere "to carouse together," from com- "together" (see com-) + vivere "to live" (see vital). Meaning "sociable" is from 18c. Related: Conviviality.
late 14c., "assembly of persons," from Old French convocation and directly from Latin convocationem (nominative convocatio), noun of action from past participle stem of convocare "to call together," from com- "together" (see com-) + vocare "to call," from vox "voice" (see voice (n.)). Related: Convocational.
"rolled up together," 1794, from Latin convolutus, past participle of convolvere (see convolution). The noun meaning "something convoluted" is from 1846.
1811, past participle adjective from verb convolute (1690s), from Latin convolutus, past participle of convolvere (see convolution); or perhaps a back-formation from convolution. French has convoluté (18c.), in form a past participle adjective, without the verb.
early 16c., "the act of guiding or escorting for protection," from convoy (v.), late 14c., from Old French convoier, from Vulgar Latin *conviare, literally "go together on the road" (see convey). The meaning "train of ships or wagons carrying munitions or provisions in wartime under protection of escort" is from c.1600.
1640s, transitive; 1680s, intransitive; from Latin convulsus, past participle of convellere (transitive only) "to pull away, to pull this way and that, wrench," hence "to weaken, overthrow, destroy" (see convulsion). Related: Convulsed (1630s); convulsing.
1580s, from Latin convulsionem (nominative convulsio), noun of action from past participle stem of convellere "to tear loose," from com- "together" (see com-) + vellere "to pluck, pull violently."
1610s, from French convulsif, from Medieval Latin *convulsivus, from convulsus, past participle of convellere (see convulse (v.)). Related: Convulsively.
"vagina," slang, by 1991, perhaps from hoochie-coochie, especially in the blues song "Hoochie Coochie Man" by Willie Dixon (1954), featuring a sexually suggestive phrase that traces at least to the 1893 World's Fair (see hoochy koochy).
Old English coc, from Vulgar Latin cocus "cook," from Latin coquus, from coquere "to cook, prepare food, ripen, digest, turn over in the mind" from PIE root *pekw- "to cook" (cf. Oscan popina "kitchen," Sanskrit pakvah "cooked," Greek peptein, Lithuanian kepti "to bake, roast," Old Church Slavonic pecenu "roasted," Welsh poeth "cooked, baked, hot"). Germanic languages had no one native term for all types of cooking, and borrowed the Latin word (Old Saxon kok, Old High German choh, German Koch, Swedish kock).
There is the proverb, the more cooks the worse potage. [Gascoigne, 1575]
late 14c., from cook (n.); the figurative sense of "to manipulate, falsify, doctor" is from 1630s. Related: Cooked, cooking. To cook with gas is 1930s jive talk.
1703, American English, from Dutch koekje "little cake," diminutive of koek "cake," from Middle Dutch koke (see cake (n.)). Slang application to persons attested since 1920. Phrase that's the way the cookie crumbles "that's the way things happen" is from 1957.