The Latin coniuratio became the now-obsolete “conjuration” (Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language: “A plot; a conspiracy”) in early modern English. The German equivalent, Verschwörung, in 18th-century usage as reflected in Zedler's Universal-Lexicon, denoted “an unlawful compact against the authorities” (“die unrechtmäßige Zusammenschwörung wieder [sic] die Obrigkeit”) [1. 980]. The Encyclopédie of Diderot and d'Alambert also makes conjuration a compact between peopl…