conduire
Pronunciation
- IPA: /kɔ̃.dɥiʁ/[1]
Forms
conduire[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Latin condūcō (“to lead together, bring together”), formed from con- and dūcō (“to lead”); in popular Latin it took over the senses of the simple verb, “to draw, lead, guide”.[2][3][4][5][6] In Old French it finally replaced “duire”, from “dūcō”.[3][7] The Petit Robert connects “dūcō” and dux (“leader”) (whence duc) with a root “*deuk-” “to pull”, as in German ziehen and English team.[5]
Cognate with Romanian conduce, Italian condurre, Occitan counduire, Catalan conduir, Spanish conducir and Portuguese conduzir.[5]
Earliest recorded meaning
The Passion de Clermont (late 10th century) has the form conducent “they lead (someone) away to a place”.[2][3]
Semantic evolution
The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) uses it for “to accompany” and for “to drive (someone) to an act”: Que nous seions conduit à mendier (“that we be reduced to begging”).[2][7] Chrétien de Troyes (1172–1175) has it for escorting to safety.[2] From the 14th century it meant to direct as head: in law (1372, conduire un procès, 1479), in administration (1474) and later in music (conduire un chœur, 1845).[2][3] Béranger's conduire à l'église “to marry” (1829) matches Medieval Latin uxorem conducere (about 1194).[2][3]
Furetière (1690) records conduire un attelage, and the absolute conduire “to drive” spread in the 19th century (Dumas, 1846), becoming very common with the motor car.[2][3] Madame de Sévigné (1677) uses it for conducting a narrative, Nerval (1851) for conducting heat, and climbers for leading the rope (1913).[2][8] The reflexive se conduire “to behave” goes back to the 13th century.[2][3]
Timeline
- late 10th century – Conducent in the Passion de Clermont.[2]
- c. 1100 – “To accompany”, in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
- mid-13th century – Se conduire “to behave”.[2]
- 1479 – Conduire un procès.[2]
- 1690 – Conduire un attelage in Furetière.[2]
- 1829 – Conduire à l'église “to marry”, in Béranger.[2]
- 1846 – Conduire “to drive”, in Dumas.[2]
- 1851 – “To conduct (heat)”, in Nerval.[2]
Meanings
Verb
- To take, lead (someone) somewhere: conduire un enfant à l'école, conduire quelqu'un chez le médecin.[5][9]
- To drive (a vehicle); to steer, guide (an animal): conduire une voiture, savoir conduire.[9][1]
- To lead, direct, manage: conduire une armée, une affaire, un procès.[2][3]
- (music) To conduct: conduire un orchestre.[2][3]
- To drive (someone) to: conduire au désespoir.[2][3]
- (physics) To conduct (heat, electricity).[2]
- Se conduire: to behave: se conduire mal.[1][3]
- (mountaineering) To lead (a rope of climbers).[8]
Word family
- conducteur
- conduit
- conduite
- reconduire
- sauf-conduit
- inconduite
Related words
- duc
- Latin condūcō
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1023a
- ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
- ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)