Conspire: c.1300, from O.Fr. conspirer, from L. conspirare "to agree, unite, plot," lit. "to breathe together," from com- "together" + spirare "to breathe" (see spirit). Conspiracy is from 1386; conspiracy theory is from 1909.
January 26, 2004
I disagree with the premise that extent of vocabulary and extent of communication of thought are necessarily correlated. A person with an extensive vocabulary can still have considerable difficulties with either writing or speaking. Furthermore, speaking and writing are only a minute fraction of communication. I once heard that non-verbal communication accounts for 98% of all communication.