Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Con

Con, adv. [Abbrev. from L. contra against.] Against the affirmative side; in opposition; on the negative side; — The antithesis of pro, and usually in connection with it. See Pro.

Con, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Conned; p. pr. & vb. n. Conning.] [AS. cunnan to know, be able, and (derived from this) cunnian to try, test. See Can, v. t. & i.] 1. To know; to understand; to acknowledge. [Obs.]

Of muses, Hobbinol, I con no skill. Spenser.

They say they con to heaven the highway. Spenser.

2. To study in order to know; to peruse; to learn; to commit to memory; to regard studiously.

Fixedly did look Upon the muddy waters which he conned As if he had been reading in a book. Wordsworth.

I did not come into Parliament to con my lesson. Burke.

To con answer, to be able to answer. [Obs.] — To con thanks, to thank; to acknowledge obligation. [Obs.] Shak.

Con, v. t. [See Cond.] (Naut.) To conduct, or superintend the steering of (a vessel); to watch the course of (a vessel) and direct the helmsman how to steer.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.