converseness (n.)

A term often used in SEMANTICS to refer to a SENSE relation between LEXICAL ITEMS. Converse terms display a type of oppositeness of MEANING, illustrated by such pairs as buy/sell, parent/child, employer/employee and above/below. Buy is said to be ‘the converse of’ sell, and vice versa. In such a relationship, found especially in the definition of reciprocal social roles, spatial relationships, and so on, there is an interdependence of meaning, such that one member of the pair presupposes the other member. In this respect, converseness contrasts with COMPLEMENTARITY, where there is no such symmetry of dependence, and with the technical sense of ANTONYMY, where there is a gradation between the opposites.