What does “convivir” mean in Spanish?

Convivir packs into one word what English splits across “to spend time together,” “to hang out,” “to socialize,” even “to coexist.” Built from con- (with) and vivir (to live), it literally means to live alongside — but in everyday use it is warm and social: families, friends, neighbors, or here, pop stars who convivieron con las fans, mingling and genuinely spending time with them. There is no single tidy English verb that covers it.

The noun convivencia is just as untranslatable: it names the harmonious experience of sharing space and time — used for schools, neighborhoods, and famously for the medieval Spanish era when Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived side by side. So when someone invites you to una convivencia, they mean a get-together built on togetherness. Reach for convivir whenever “hanging out” feels too thin for the kind of time you mean.