conspire, v.
(kənˈspaɪə(r))
[a. F. conspire-r (15th c. in Littré) (= Pr. cospirar, Sp. conspirar, It. conspirare), ad. L. conspīrāre lit. ‘to breathe together’, whence, ‘to accord, harmonize, agree, combine or unite in a purpose, plot mischief together secretly’.]
1. intr. To combine privily for an evil or unlawful purpose; to agree together to do something criminal, illegal, or reprehensible (esp. to commit treason or murder, excite sedition, etc.); to plot. Const. with, against, to do something, † that.
| 1382 Wyclif John ix. 22 The Iewis hadden conspirid, that if ony man knowlechide him Crist, he schulde be don out of the synagoge. c 1386 Chaucer Prioress' T. 113 The Iewes have conspired This innocent out of this world to enchace. ? a 1400 Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.) II. 12 Syr Cayphas & his companye Conspirne Jesus to anoye. 1494 Fabyan Chron. i. ii. 9 Brute founde many Troyans..with the whiche he conspyred. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 89 b, Whiche confedered togyder hath conspyred to destroye our soules. 1602 Rowlands Greene's Ghost 32 They conspired how to make a breach in his pocket. 1611 Bible Gen. xxxvii. 18 They conspired against him, to slay him. 1671 Milton Samson 892 An impious crew Of men conspiring to uphold their state By worse than hostile deeds. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc iii. 94 When kingly power conspired with papal craft To plot and perpetrate that massacre. 1848 Lytton Harold ii. ii, Princes conspire against me. |
† b. Said of a single person (the notion of combination being lost sight of): To plot secretly, contrive. Obs.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 232 Within his herte he gan conspire. 1480 Robt. Devyll 27 Thus then he conspyred in hys wyll One after another for to kyll. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. x, For thou art so possess'd with murderous hate That 'gainst thyself thou stick'st not to conspire. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. v. i. 70 But to be Menelaus, I would conspire against Destiny. |
2. trans. To plot, plan, devise, contrive (a criminal, evil, or hostile action). a. with the end or purpose as obj.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 19 Þat conterfeteþ disseites and Conspiret wronges. 1377 Ibid. B. x. 423 Dauid þat Vries deth conspired. 1494 Fabyan Chron. iv. lxiii. 43 The Countree waxed wery of hym, & conspyrid his deth. 1597 Daniel Civ. Wares v. i, The whil'st victorious Henry did conspire The wracke of Fraunce. 1681 E. Sclater Serm. at Putney 17 That conspire the subversion of Throne and Altar. 1725–6 Pope Odyss. xvi. 464 Thus smooth he ended, yet his death conspir'd. 1805 Southey Madoc in Azt. iv, Your fall and mine do they alike conspire. |
b. with the action as obj.
| 1503–4 Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 34 Preamb., By dyvers feetis betwen theym conseyved and conspired. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. (1618) 6 Conspire against him most dangerous enterprises. 1857 S. Osborn Quedah ii. 23 The present attack had been patiently conspired and prearranged at Malacca. |
† c. pass. with clause. Obs.
| 1393 Gower Conf. I. 81 Sinon, whiche made was here espie Withinne Troie, as was conspired. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) ii. 486 Yt ys conspyryd to reward thy falsnes. |
3. intr. To combine in action or aim; to act in purposive combination, union, or harmony.
| 1538 Starkey England i. i. 19 The cyvyle lyfe ys a polytyke ordur of men conspyryng togyddur in vertue and honesty. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 239 The Stour assisted by other streams that conspire with it. 1657 J. Smith Myst. Rhet. 350 Therefore must your labour conspire with my inventions. a 1711 Ken Hymns Festiv. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 383 How God's converting Calls conspire With our Free-Wills, fond Men enquire? a 1763 J. Byrom Hymn ‘Christians awake’ iii, Th' angelic choir In songs of joy before unknown conspire. 1829 K. Digby Broadst. Hon. I. 251 When we reflect..upon the jarring interests which are to be made to conspire. 1869 Tyndall Notes on Light §479 The waves conspire or oppose each other according as their vibrations are in the same phase or in opposite phases. |
b. To combine, concur, co-operate as by intention (so as to effect a certain result).
It ranges from what is explicitly fig. of 1 to a sense quite distinct from it.
| 1575 Laneham Lett. (1871) 43 Consider, how fully the Gods (az it seemed) had conspyred..too bestow theyr influencez & gyfts vpon her coourt. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. (1839) 376 The writers..conspire to one and the same end, which is setting forth of the rights of the kingdom of God. 1670 Dryden Tyrannic Love Ded., All the Advantages of Mind and Body, and an Illustrious Birth, conspiring to render you an extraordinary Person. 1678 Cudworth Intell. Syst. 397 The Singers and Dancers could not conspire together into one Dance and Harmony, were they destitute of a Coryphæus. a 1711 Ken Div. Love Wks. (1838) 230 Thou dost..dispose all things..to conspire in thy glory. 1713 Guardian No. 135 All things conspire to make his sick bed grievous and uneasy. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola ii. viii, All things conspired to give her the sense of freedom and solitude. |
c. To combine as factors in (a product). poet.
| 1716 Addison Poems Sev. Occas., O England's younger hope! in whom conspire The mother's sweetness, and the father's fire! 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. v. 1 In [him]..there conspired certain personal gifts of an altogether unique order. |
† 4. To concur or agree in spirit, sentiment, sense, tenor, testimony, assertion, etc. Obs.
| 1579 E. K. Gloss. Spenser's Sheph. Cal. Oct. 21 This place seemeth to conspyre with Plato. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. i. §9 (1622) 197 The Apostle..doth fully conspire and agree with the Prophet. 1699 Bentley Phal. iii. 85 All these Accounts, conspiring so together, make it certain. 1723 Pope Let. to Digby 10 Oct., I conspire in your sentiments..wish for your company. 1737 Whiston Josephus' Antiq. Diss. i, Josephus..conspires in his testimony with what is written in the Gospels. |
† 5. trans. To unite in producing; to concur to.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage vii. x. (1614) 702 Their blacke skinnes, white eyes, and cauterised ma[r]kes seem to conspire a dreadfull and gastly deformitie in their faces. 1650 Baxter Saints' R. i. vii. (1662) 104 All things..with us conspire the high praises of our great Deliverer. 1669 W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 114 All which conspire the restitution of the integrity of health. |
¶ 6. It occurs with some reference to the etymological sense ‘breathe or blow together’, though scarcely as an independent meaning.
| c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) ii. 23 Saule ys my name..whych conspyreth the dyscyplys with thretes and menaces [cf. Acts ix. 1]. 1861 Temple & Trevor Tannhäuser 74 The buffeting gusts..conspire Conflicting breaths. |