▪ I. conference, n.
(ˈkɒnfərəns)
Also 6 (and in 9 in sense 8) conferrence, 7 conferrance.
[a. F. conférence (16th c. in Littré), or ad. med.L. conferentia, f. confer-re to confer: see -ence. (Collation (from the ppl. stem) was in earlier use in most of the senses.)]
† 1. The action of bringing together; collection; addition, adding up. Obs. (Cf. confer 1.)
| 1610 A. Cooke Pope Joan in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) IV. 87 It is plain, by conference of years, that he meant to note out the 855th..put these odd sums, 4, 3, and 8, to 840 and they will make 855. 1651 Walton Life Wotton (1670) 137 The Bible, which by many years labour, and conference, and study, he [Bp. Bedel] had translated into the Irish tongue. |
† 2. Contribution, furnishing, supplying. Obs.
| 1545 T. Raynalde Byrth Mankynde 1 The conference of most matter in begettyng. |
† 3. Comparison, esp. of texts; collation. Obs.
| 1538 Elyot Dict. Pref. to King, The conference of phrases or fourmes of speakynge latin and englyshe. 1562 Q. Kennedy in Crosraguell & Knox (1563) 19 b (Jam.), Knox does not meit the heid of my partickle quhair I do mark the conferrence betuix the phrase of the scriptures alledged be vs baith. 1602 W. Fulbecke (title), The second part of the Parallele, or Conference of the Ciuill Law, the Canon Law, and the Common Law. 1645 Ussher Body Div. (1647) 24 By..conference of other places, the true reading may be discerned. 1663 Charleton Chorea Gigant. 30 As may be..collected from a Conference of Times, Actions, etc. |
4. a. The action of conferring or taking counsel, now always on an important or serious subject or affair; ‘the act of conversing on serious subjects, formal discourse’ (J.); but formerly in the more general sense of: Conversation, discourse, talk. in conference, engaged (in a conference), busy (orig. U.S.).
| 1555 Eden Decades i. ii. 10 You may..knowe by conference had with the apothecaries. 1597 Bacon Ess., Of Studies (Arb.) 10 Reading maketh a full man, conference a readye man, and writing an exacte man. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. ii. 17 Nor with such free and friendly Conference As he hath vs'd of old. 1641 Evelyn Diary 4 Oct., To St. Mary's Chapell, where I had some conference with two English Jesuites. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. (1775) I. 19, I saw the monk in close conference with a lady. 1814 Jane Austen Mansf. Park (1851) 16 Their hours of happy mirth and moments of serious conference. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, I. viii. 268 He demanded to be admitted to a last conference with the King. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxiv. 171 Our conference ended with the arrangement that I was to write him an official letter. 1926 Wodehouse Heart of Goof iii. 96 ‘We can ring..up on the 'phone and ask.’ ‘And be told that he is in conference.’ 1927 Amer. Speech II. 214/1 To be in conference. The English ‘he's engaged’ is much less imposing. 1954 I. Murdoch Under the Net xv. 205, I told H. K. that I was in conference and that if he would contact my secretary..a meeting might be arranged. |
† b. Meeting for conversation, rendezvous. Obs.
| 1575 Churchyard Chippes (1817) 134 Diuers enimies had alwayes there a common resorte and conference. |
† c. Subject of conversation, ‘talk’. Obs.
| 1625 Massinger New Way iv. i, Wherefore have you..given yourself To visits and entertainments? Think you, madam, 'Tis not grown public conference? |
d. In modern legal practice, a meeting for professional advice at which only one counsel is present: distinguished from consultation.
| 1877 Summerhays & Toogood Precedents Bills of Costs 67 If one Counsel only is employed, the conference fee to him and clerk is {pstlg}1. 6s. Attending conference (or consultation) with Counsel 0. 13. 4. 1883 Wharton Law-Lex. (ed. 7) 179/2 Conference, a meeting between a counsel and solicitor to advise on the cause of their client. 1905 Ann. Practice 1906 II. 211 No fees are allowed for conferences in addition to the counsel's fees for drawing..any pleadings,..deeds, or other proceedings. |
e. A trade association or combination, esp. of shipping companies. Also attrib.
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 11 June 6/1 The combinations called ‘conferences’ bind merchants for long periods forward. 1909 Ibid. 3 June 2/2 The evil of the ‘conference’ arrangement is that the shipper is absolutely in the hands of the ‘ring’. 1930 Economist 5 Apr. 784/1 Revenue, outside the commodities controlled by ‘conference’ rates, must have been affected by last year's drop in ‘free’ freights. 1965 Ibid. 2 Jan. 34/1 A conference is an association of shipping lines plying a certain route; it fixes sailing schedules and rates for its members. 1970 Financial Times 13 Apr. 2/7 Member lines of the U.K.-Continent to India-Pakistan ship conferences announce that freight rates in the eastbound trade will be increased by 15 per cent. |
† 5. Communication, converse, intercourse. Obs.
| 1565 Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 196 The foure Patriarkes..vsed to write letters of conference betweene themselues, thereby to professe their Religion one to an other. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. xii. 56 Witches, that pretended conference with the dead. |
| fig. 1582 J. Hester Secr. Phiorav. ii. xiv. 93 Impostumes in the eyes..because thei haue a conference with the head, thei are evill to heale. |
6. A formal meeting for consultation or discussion; e.g. between the representatives of different sovereign states, the two Houses of Parliament or of Congress, the representatives of societies, parties, etc.
Hampton Court Conference, that held by James I and the High Church party with some of the Puritans in the Church of England, in January 1604; Savoy Conference, that held at the Savoy Palace in London between the Episcopalians and Presbyterians after the Restoration in 1661.
| 1586 A. Day Engl. Secretarie ii. (1625) 20 Whom your selfe knew an houre before our conference, to have bin discharged our company. 1665–6 Marvell Corr. 5 Jan., A message came..from the Lords for present Conference upon four bills sent up to them. 1669 Phil. Trans. IV. 953 The Conferences held at Paris in the Academy Royal for the improvement of the Arts of Painting and Sculpture. 1769 Robertson Chas. V, VI. vi. 91 They demanded a conference with the representatives of the cities concerning the state of the nation. 1863 H. Cox Instit. i. ix. 151 Conferences most usually take place where either House disagrees to amendments in bills made by the other. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 49 The International Monetary Conference held at Paris, in 1867. |
7. The annual assembly of ministers and other representatives of the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, constituting its central governing body (first held in 1744); also the name of similar assemblies or bodies in other Methodist societies, and some other religious bodies in Great Britain and America. (Written with capital C.)
| 1744 Wesley Jrnl., Monday 25 [June] and the five following days, we spent in conference with many of our brethren. 1745 Ibid., Thursday, August 1, and the following days, we had our second Conference, with as many of our brethren..as could be present. ― Min. Conversations (1749) Conv. ii, Aug. 1, 1745, It was proposed to review the Minutes of the last Conference with regard to justification. 1784 ― Wks. (1872) IV. 512 The Rev. John Wesley's Declaration and Appointment of the Conference of the people called Methodists. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede Epil., ‘Conference has forbid the women preaching’..‘Ah’, said Seth..‘and a sore pity it was o' Conference’. 1886 Pall Mall G. 21 July 10/1 The ‘Legal Hundred’..is a very important part of the Methodist organization. The one hundred ministers of which it is composed become ex-officio members of the conference for life. |
8. The action of conferring; bestowal.
| 1869 Daily News 30 Oct., The conference of the degree upon Mr. Absolom was loudly cheered. 1881 Standard 25 Nov., The conferrence of the degree was loudly cheered by the undergraduates. |
9. attrib. conference room, conference-table, etc.; conference centre, a building or complex designed or adapted for the holding of conferences (sense 6).
| 1958 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 Apr. 24/3 Arden House has become the best known residential *conference center in the country — perhaps in the world. 1984 Listener 10 May 3/1 The streets are getting grubbier, streets surrounding immense conference centres equipped with multi-channel audio equipment, plush chairs and subdued lighting. |
| 1867 A. Barry Sir C. Barry vii. 260 A central *conference room. |
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 21 July 10/1 Elected as *conference secretary. |
| 1928 ‘S. S. Van Dine’ Greene Murder Case xvii. 192 A small *conference-table in one of the Stuyvesant Club's private rooms. 1938 Auden & Isherwood On Frontier ii. ii. 78 The politicians hunt for a formula under the conference-table. 1945 R. Knox God & Atom ix. 129 It suited the book of the Power which won the day at the conference-table. |
Add: [4.] f. An association of sports teams or clubs in regular competition, esp. from one geographical area; (a division of) a league. Freq. attrib. Chiefly N. Amer. (orig. U.S.).
| 1905 Chicago Sunday Tribune 19 Mar. ii. 3/2 With Capt. Brietkreutz, holder of the conference half mile record, and L. Miller..out of the meet, Michigan should not have great difficulty in winning. 1908 Ibid. 15 Mar. iii. 3/3 Minnesota's basketball team fell an easy prey to the champion University of Chicago five in the concluding game of the conference season. 1916 Outing Jan. 411/1 In the Middle Western Conference Illinois and Minnesota played a tie game and defeated all other opponents. 1948 Daily Ardmoreite (Ardmore, Okla.) 15 Jan. 6/3 The Ardmore Douglass high school Dragon cagers will meet the Lawton Lions in their second conference game of the season. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 32/4 Football Record..Canadian League..Eastern Conference..Western Conference. 1986 Vauxhall Bedford Mirror 26 June 16/1 The two-year contract sees GM backing the Alliance League..as the renamed GM Vauxhall Conference. The ‘Conference’ will comprise..22 clubs. |
[9.] b. attrib. in Teleph. Pertaining to or designating a service or facility which enables three or more persons on separate lines to hold a joint conversation or conference by telephone, esp. as conference call.
| 1934 Electrical Communication XII. 146/1 The British Post Office has introduced telephone (trunk) conference service... As many as six subscribers may be connected to these circuits at one time. 1939 Sun (Baltimore) 19 Jan. 11 Unite the members of your family by conference telephone service... Call ‘conference operator’. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 189/2 Conference system, a telephone system used for conference between groups of persons at a distance; high-grade microphones and radiating receivers are employed. 1965 Punch 23 June 912/1 With a long-distance Conference Call you can talk to friends or relatives in as many as three or four cities at the same time. Just ask for Conference Operator. 1970 N.Y. Times 19 Nov. 47 Tuesday a bunch of us neighbors found ourselves being notified to stand by to come in for a conference call initiated by the White House. 1986 Financial Times 1 Dec. (World Telecom. Survey Suppl.) p. x/6 Modern digital PABXs provide advanced facilities such as ‘follow-me’ and conference calls to the users within a single site. |
Sense 9 in Dict. becomes 10. Add: 9. Usu. with capital initial. A late-ripening variety of pear, somewhat elongated in shape, with a russet-flecked dark green skin and sweet, juicy flesh. Also Conference pear.
App. named after the 1885 National Pear Conference.
| 1885 Jrnl. Hort. 17 Dec. 536/1 Of new varieties, the *Conference Pear exhibited by Messrs. Rivers and Son (season, October) was awarded a first class certificate. 1925 J. W. Morton Pract. Fruit-growing xiv. 110 In Conference we have a large pear which is ready to be marketed in October and November. 1976 Eastern Daily Press (Norwich) 19 Nov. 19/4 Pears, Conference, best 9p to 11p, Dutch Conference 8p to 12p lb. 1988 Times 29 Jan. 7/1 Other fruits in good supply are conference pears 22p–25p and comice pears 30p–45p. |
▪ II. ˈconference, v. rare.
[f. prec. n.]
intr. To hold conference; to confer.
| 1846 Worcester cites Chr. Observer. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. IV. xii. xi. 265 There was of course long conferencing, long consulting. |
Restrict rare to sense in Dict. Add: b. spec. To participate in a telephone conference call with others.
| 1972 N.Y. Law Jrnl. 10 Oct. 2/5 (Advt.), With the flick of a switch, you and up to five key people can be conferencing with each other. 1976 Aviation Week & Space Technol. 10 May 49/3 There is a Norad telephone conferencing system that permits the sac commander in chief to conference with National Command Authority. |
Hence ˈconferencing vbl. n.
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 1 June 2/1 Delegates went home..very much pleased with the social and official reception accorded to them, but sick of the conferencing. 1985 Financial Times 19 Apr. (Survey Suppl.) p. ii/6 Conferencing, both audio and visual, is another example of a value added services [sic] which can lessen the inconvenience of geographical separation. 1988 Invision Oct. 14/3 If IBC awakened you to the delights of conferencing by the sea, then Interactive '88 could provide the ideal excuse for yet another coastal jaunt. |