conduit

Forms

conduit m (plural conduits)^[1] Old French conduit, with the nominative conduiz.^[2]

Etymology

It is from French conduire, its past participle used as a noun.^[3][4][5][6] Compare Medieval Latin conductum for a water channel (1086).^[3][7] Wiktionary derives the Old French noun directly from Latin conductus, the past participle of condūcō (“to lead together”).^[1][8] The musical sense was taken from the Medieval Latin noun of the same form, recorded in 1248–1269.^[3][7]

Cognate with Italian condotto, Old Occitan conduch and Spanish conducho (“provisions”).^[9][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Anglo-Norman Dictionary's earliest record is from 1121–1125.^[10] In the 12th century the word meant “escort, protection, safe passage”, as in a 12th-century life of Saint Thomas the martyr: Qu'il li doinse conduit “that he should grant him a safe-conduct”.^[2][6] The sense “channel that carries a liquid” appears in Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès about 1175.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The Old French sense “escort, protection” lasted until the 15th century and survives only in sauf-conduit.^[6][7] The sense “pipe, channel” was extended to the body: a passage perhaps meaning the windpipe or gullet is found in the first third of the 13th century, and “intestine” in 1428.^[3] Rey dates the anatomical sense to about 1225.^[7]

In music it named a church motet (les conduits de Nostre-Dame, 1218–1225, Gautier de Coinci), and later linking notes or bars inserted between the entries of a piece.^[3][7] The word's spread was held back by the feminine conduite, which also took some concrete uses for a pipe but left it the anatomical sense.^[7]

English conduit (about 1300) first meant “conduct, escort”, and its sense “pipe” came later;^[8] conduct and conduit were differentiated from the 15th century.^[8]

Timeline

• 1121–1125 – Earliest record in the Anglo-Norman Dictionary.^[10]
• c. 1175 – Chrétien de Troyes's Cligès uses it for a channel carrying a liquid.^[3]
• 1218–1225 – Gautier de Coinci mentions les conduits de Nostre-Dame, a musical form.^[3][7]
• c. 1225 – Rey's date for the anatomical sense.^[7]
• c. 1300 – English borrows it as conduit.^[8]
• 1428 – Used for “intestine”.^[3]
• 15th century – The sense “escort” goes out of use outside sauf-conduit.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pipe or narrow channel through which a liquid or a fluid flows, as in conduit de fumée “flue”.^[3][11][5]
2. (anatomy) A duct or canal of the body, as in conduit auditif “ear canal” and conduit lacrymal “tear duct”.^[11][5][3]
3. (music, medieval) A conductus, a church song with parts in counterpoint.^[3][11][1]
4. (music) A short linking passage of a few bars between the entries of a piece.^[3]
5. (nautical) A pulley or other support through which a rope passes.^[2]

Word family

• sauf-conduit

Related words

• conduire
• conduite
• Latin condūcō
• English conduit

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert