conducteur

Forms

conducteur m (plural conducteurs, feminine conductrice)^[1] Middle French conductour, replacing Old French conduitor, conduiteur.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin conductor (“tenant, contractor, later leader”), a remaking after the Latin word of Old French conduitor (about 1243), which itself came from the Latin.^[2][3][4] The Latin noun was formed on conductum, the supine of condūcō (“to lead together, to hire”),^[4][5] from con- (“with, together”) and dūcō (“to lead”).^[1] In Classical Latin the noun meant “tenant” or “contractor”;^[6][5] in Late Latin it took over the sense of the simple ductor (“leader”), which it supplanted, and it is found in Medieval Latin in the sense “one who leads” in 1066.^[2][3] The Petit Robert describes it as formed on conduire after the Latin model.^[7]

Littré compares Occitan conductor, Spanish conductor and Italian conduttore.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLFi's first record is conductour in Cuvelier's chronicle of Bertrand du Guesclin (second half of the 14th century), for the leader of armed men: Trois mille combattans dont il fu conductour.^[2][8] Bloch and Wartburg date the remade form to about 1225, and the GLLF to the early 13th century, in the Sept Sages de Rome.^[6][5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle and classical French the word served as the agent noun of conduire in its figurative senses: the leader of men, the person in charge of a business (Commynes, late 15th century), and since 1690 the ruler of a country.^[2][3] The feminine form conducteresse is found in Monstrelet in the 15th century, of Joan of Arc.^[8] From 1559 it was used of a person who drives animals, and then, commonly, of the driver of a vehicle, in the 19th century a stagecoach, and since 1898 a motor car.^[3][2] The 19th century also had conducteur de travaux (1845), the overseer of building works.^[2]

In the 18th century it entered physics, especially electricity (1749), probably as a calque of the English word conductor, used by W. Watson in 1745 and spread by Franklin.^[3] In that sense it became an adjective (1805), first literally and then figuratively in fil conducteur (1824) “guiding thread”.^[3][2] From it came semi-conducteur (1897), which entered common use around 1945 with electronics.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1243 – The Old French form conduitor is recorded.^[2][3]
• 2nd half of the 14th century – Conductour “leader of armed men” in Cuvelier.^[2]
• Late 15th century – Commynes uses it for the man directing someone's affairs.^[2][8]
• 1559 – Amyot writes of conducteurs des elephans.^[2]
• 1690 – Furetière records the sense “ruler of a country”.^[2]
• 1749 – First used in electricity.^[3]
• 1771 – The Dictionnaire de Trévoux defines it as a body that transmits heat or electricity.^[2]
• 1805 – Cuvier uses it as an adjective.^[2][3]
• 1824 – Fil conducteur “guiding principle” in Barante.^[2]
• 1845 – Conducteur de travaux in Balzac.^[2]
• 1897 – Semi-conducteur is recorded.^[3]
• 1898 – Used of the driver of a motor car.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A leader of people, one who guides others.^[7][9]
2. (dated) A person who drives animals, a drover.^[7]
3. The driver of a vehicle (car, bus, lorry, train); feminine conductrice.^[7][9][1]
4. (dated) On a stagecoach or omnibus, the employee in charge of the passengers.^[5]
5. Conducteur de travaux: a site foreman who directs building works.^[9][2]
6. (physics) A conductor, a body that transmits heat or electricity.^[10][2]
7. (broadcasting) A running order, the plan a host follows in a debate or programme.^[10][1]
8. (music) A reduced score used by a conductor.^[10]

Adjective

1. That leads or guides;^[2][9] fil conducteur, a guiding thread or principle.^[2][9]
2. (physics) That conducts heat or electricity.^[9][2]

Word family

• semi-conducteur

Related words

• conduire
• conduite
• conduit
• Latin conductor

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)