conduce

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English conducen,^[2][3] borrowed from Latin condūcō (“to lead or bring together, collect; to hire; to contribute, serve”),^{[4][5][6][7][3]} formed from com- (“together”) and dūcō (“to lead, draw”),^[4][5][8] from Proto-Indo-European *deuk- (“to lead”).^[5][8] The Latin verb became French conduire, and it also gave English cond and conduct, which survive in their own senses.^[4] Klein sends the reader to duct and compares conn,^[9] Merriam-Webster and Barnhart relate the verb to tow,^[3][6] and Dictionary.com to duke as well.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To lead or guide: about 1400, in Vices and Virtues (þe Holy Gost ledeþ and conduceþ in erþe), in a manuscript of about 1450.^[2] Etymonline and Barnhart also give about 1400, and Dictionary.com 1350–1400.^[5][11][10] The first record in the OED is Partenay, about 1475.^[4]

Semantic evolution

English first took the Latin verb's plain sense of leading, used of a person or figuratively, and the OED follows this until 1658.^[4][2] Johnson (1755) could find it in only one passage, from Wotton: "He was sent to conduce hither the princess Henrietta-Maria".^[12] Other Latin senses came and went: in Scots the verb meant to hire from 1502 to 1680,^[4][13] Pennecuik, in Edinburgh, used it in 1715 for to bargain or deal,^[14] and "to bring about" lasted only from 1518 to 1529.^[4][13] The sense that survives follows the Latin use of things that contribute or serve: to lead or tend to a result, from 1586.^[4][5] This was the one Johnson explained as "to promote an end; to contribute; to serve to some purpose", quoting Bacon and Newton.^[12] A related use, to be profitable, ran from 1624 to 1728,^[4][13] and the adjective conducive appeared in 1646, modelled on conduct and conductive.^[6][11] Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida (1609) has an intransitive use that the OED leaves as of uncertain meaning.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – to lead or guide someone.^[2] Etymonline and Barnhart give the same date; the OED's first record is about 1475.^[5][11][4]
• 1502 – in Scots, to hire (until 1680).^[4][13]
• 1518 – to bring about (until 1529).^[4][13]
• 1586 – to lead or tend towards a result, the current sense.^[4] Etymonline gives the 1580s.^[5]
• 1609 – with an infinitive after to.^[4]
• 1624 – to be profitable or advantageous (until 1728).^[4][13]
• 1646 – the adjective conducive.^[6][11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (formal) To lead or contribute to a result, usually a desirable one; used with to or toward: A regular routine conduces to sound sleep.^{[3][8][15][16]}
2. (obsolete, c. 1475–1658) To lead, guide or bring.^{[4][3][7][12]}
3. (obsolete, Scots, 1502–1680) To hire or engage for payment.^[4][7]
4. (obsolete, 1518–1529) To bring about.^[4][3][7]

Word family

• conducer
• conducingly
• conducible
• conducive

Related words

• adduce
• conduct
• induce
• reduce
• seduce
• duct
• conn
• tow
• duke
• cond

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press