Converso

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A Jew or Muslim in Spain or Portugal who converted to Roman Catholicism under duress, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries.

    "Guillermina Jasso, a sociology professor at New York University, said Angel was “evocative of the old converso practice of taking on very Christian surnames as a way of survival in a suspicious environment.”"

  2. 2
    (medieval Spain and Portugal) a Jew or Moor who professed to convert to Christianity in order to avoid persecution or expulsion wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
crypto-jewmarrano

Example

More examples

"Guillermina Jasso, a sociology professor at New York University, said Angel was “evocative of the old converso practice of taking on very Christian surnames as a way of survival in a suspicious environment.”"

Etymology

From Spanish converso. Doublet of converse.

Related phrases

roman catholicism

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.