Word in question: Conversate

As a student of linguistics I've never been a language purist, I believe that if people use a word and others accept it is a word regardless of whether or not the language police accept it, or even put it in a dictionary.

It is unsurprising that "conversate" is found in online dictionaries. In my experience, most online dictionaries, Merriam-Webster's included, are descriptive rather than prescriptive. (In fact, most modern paper dictionaries are descriptive. Some say it started when Webster's Third included the word "ain't," loosing the hounds of criticism from the prescriptive crowd.) Some dictionaries include caveats for disputed words like "ain't" or "irregardless." In the case of "conversate," Merriam-Webster Online simply calls it a "back-formation from 'conversation' " without further comment.

Merriam-Webster Online dates "conversate" to 1973. This doesn't mean that it originated then, that's merely the earliest written example they could find of it. It likely was in spoken use before that; it may be regional or dialectical, or even slang. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage has no entry for it, which suggests that it is not common. I have never heard or read it.

My own opinion is that "conversate" is unneeded, since we already have "converse," and I wouldn't use it. Many consider it improper, and they have a strong case; it is at best nonstandard. But I also wouldn't get upset with those who do. If you don't like it, don't use it. Just don't make a fuss about it. Unlike, say, cancer, words may wither away if they are ignored, and unused. Who can say where "irregardless" would be if it hadn't made every words-I-hate-most list for the past seventy years?

No. The proper word is "converse". "Conversate" is considered a slang word, If I'm not mistaken.