condotta

Forms

condotta f (plural condotte)^[1] Old texts also have Old Italian condutta, Old Italian conduta and, in Latinising spelling, Old Italian condocta and Old Italian conducta.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Italian condotto, the past participle of condurre, used as a noun in the feminine.^[4][5][6][7] Wiktionary takes it from Latin conducta, the feminine of the Latin participle.^[1]

The LEI shows that the participle conductus of condūcō (“to bring together; to hire”) lives on as a noun in every Romance language except Romanian, and that Latin already had conductī “mercenaries” and conductum “hire, rent; a hired thing”.^[8] Devoto and Treccani tie the word's senses to the senses of the Old Italian verb: “to lead”, “to hire for pay” (whence the military and medical senses) and “to take on lease”, and the reflexive “to behave”.^[7][9] For the senses “conduit, pipe” the LEI cites Poppe in the FEW, who sees a Latin *conductu that took over the meanings of ductum “conduit” as the simple and the compound verb drew close in meaning.^[8] Tommaseo held that the sense “behaviour”, though thought French, was in use in all the Italian cities and did not come from France.^[10]

The simple verb dūcō (“to lead”) goes back to Proto-Indo-European *deuk- (“to draw”).^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is in the 13th-century chronicle of Malispini, in the sense “command of armies, troops or fleets”;^[12][3] Zingarelli dates the word before 1257.^[12][3] The TLIO's first record is Francesco da Barberino's Reggimento (1318–1320), where the sense is guidance on how to behave, a piece of advice: e io da te ricevo la condotta (“and I receive guidance from you”).^[2][13]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the word covered the command of troops and of a ship, the hiring of a captain with his armed men and their pay, the transport of goods, and the lease of a house or land; in Florence the ufficiali della condotta were the magistrates who hired mercenaries.^[2][9] From the military contract comes condottiero, the captain of a mercenary company.^[9][3]

The sense “pipe, conduit” is in Cavalca, before 1342, and “way of behaving, of living” in Villani, before 1363.^[12] The hiring of professionals by a public body is recorded in Machiavelli's letters from 1520; with Galileo, before 1642, it is the district entrusted to a doctor appointed by a commune, the condotta medica of the medico condotto.^[12][8][5]

Modern Italian has voto di condotta, a pupil's mark for conduct, buona condotta, good conduct that may shorten a prison sentence, linea di condotta, a course of action, and in engineering condotta forzata, the penstock that brings water under pressure to a turbine.^[6][14][15] In the railways it is a goods train, and in the theatre the sets and costumes a touring company carries.^[14][3][5]

Timeline

• Before 1257 – First record, according to Zingarelli.^[3]
• 13th century – Malispini uses it for the command of armies.^[12]
• 1318–1320 – Francesco da Barberino uses it for guidance.^[2][13]
• Before 1342 – Cavalca uses it for a water pipe.^[12]
• 1356–1357 – A Florentine text uses it for a lease.^[8]
• Before 1363 – Villani uses it for a way of behaving.^[12]
• 1520 – Machiavelli uses it for the hiring of a professional.^[8]
• Before 1642 – Galileo uses it for a doctor's district.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. conduct, behaviour, way of living: Ha sempre avuto una condotta irreprensibile.^{[14][6][5][1]}
2. The way one behaves in given circumstances;^[14][6][3] linea di condotta, course of action.^[14][6][3]
3. (education) A pupil's conduct at school, and the mark given for it: voto di condotta.^[14][6][3]
4. (sports) A competitor's conduct in a race or match.^[14][6][16]
5. The way an activity is run; management, direction: la condotta della guerra.^[14][5][16]
6. The way a literary or artistic work, or a piece of music, is laid out.^[14][6][3]
7. The appointment of a doctor, midwife or veterinary surgeon by a commune; also the district they serve: condotta medica.^{[14][5][3][9]}
8. (engineering) A pipeline for water, gas or other fluids: condotta forzata.^{[5][3][16][1]}
9. (rail transport) A freight train.^[14][3]
10. (historical) The command of troops; the contract by which a mercenary captain was hired with his men, and the troops or pay so engaged.^{[14][5][3][16]}
11. (theatre) The sets and costumes a touring company takes with it.^[5][3][16]
12. (obsolete) Transport of goods or people, and its price; a lease.^[5][3][16]

Word family

• condottiero
• condottiere

Related words

• condotto
• condurre
• Latin condūcō

Usage notes

Buona condotta in law is the good behaviour of a prisoner, which can earn a reduced sentence.^[6][3] The masculine condotto is the adjective of medico condotto and the noun for a duct or channel.^[5][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 1245
9. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
15. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org
16. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana