conductor
/kənˈdʌktə/kuhn-DUHK-tur
/kənˈdʌktɚ/kuhn-DUHK-tur
Meaningone who leads together
Common meaning: a person who directs an orchestra
Other meanings: something that carries heat or electricity
- conwith, together; thoroughly
- ductto lead or draw alongLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 615 · scan
- oragent ending: the doer, or the device that does it
‘with, together’ + ‘to lead or draw along’ → conductor
Journey through time
- Latindūcō, dūxī, ductum‘to lead or draw along’
- Englishconduct‘to lead or manage’
- Englishformed in English from conductconductor‘a person who directs an orchestra’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from conduct + -or.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), CONDUCT, p.128 · scan
Roots
- dūcō, dūxī, ductum Latin “to lead or draw along”
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