condotto

Forms

condotto m (plural condotti); as an adjective: feminine condotta, plurals condotti, condotte^[1] Old Italian also had condutto, conducto and conduto.^[2] The adjective had an old form condutto.^[3][4]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Latin conductum, the neuter of conductus, past participle of condūcō (“to bring together, lead; to hire”), used as a noun.^[5][6][7][1] In Latin the neuter noun meant “hire, rent” and the plural conducti “mercenaries”; following Poppe in the FEW, the LEI explains the sense “channel, pipe” by a Late Latin noun that took over the meanings of ductum as the simple and the prefixed verb drew together in meaning.^[8] The word is found in every Romance language except Romanian: French conduit, Old Occitan conduch and Spanish conducho (“provisions”).^[8][5][9]

The adjective is the past participle from Italian condurre, in the old sense “to take into paid service, hire”, hence a doctor engaged by a commune.^[10][7][11] The Latin verb is formed from con- and dūcō (“to lead”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *deuk- (“to draw”).^[12][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun meaning “a channel in which a liquid flows” is first recorded in the Miracole de Roma, a Roman text of the mid-13th century.^[2] DELI dates the sense “pipe through which a fluid flows” to Restoro d'Arezzo in 1282, who writes that Aquarius signifies li fiumi e le fonti e li mari e condotti d'acqua (“the rivers, springs, seas and water channels”).^[13][14] The participle, “brought, carried”, is recorded before 1294 in Guittone d'Arezzo.^[13]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian condotto had several other uses as a noun: “guidance, escort”, “agreement, pact”, a mercenary soldier in the pay of a condottiero, and the wages owed to sailors for a voyage.^[2][15] The soldier survives only in the archaic soldato condotto.^[7][11] Giovanni Villani describes the water brought to ancient Florence per meraviglioso condotto from the hills above Fiesole.^[14]

From 1679 (Daniello Bartoli) anatomy used the word for any channel-shaped structure in the body, as in condotto uditivo “ear canal” and condotto lacrimale “tear duct”.^[13][6] The condotto eruttivo or vulcanico is the vent through which magma rises in a volcano.^[7][10] The adjective “appointed by the commune to care for the people of a district” is dated 1845 (medico condotto); the district itself was a condotta.^[13][7][10] In mechanics, a ruota condotta or albero condotto is a wheel or shaft driven by another.^[6][11]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – The Miracole de Roma use condotto for a water channel.^[2]
• 1282 – Restoro d'Arezzo uses condotti d'acqua.^[13]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the participle “led, brought”.^[13]
• 1679 – Daniello Bartoli uses the word for a channel in the body.^[13]
• 1845 – Medico condotto, a doctor appointed by the commune, is recorded.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pipe or conduit, usually a large one, through which liquids or gases flow: Hanno sostituito il condotto dell'acqua sotto la strada.^[6][7][1]
2. (dated) A channel dug in the ground to drain rainwater.^[6][10]
3. (anatomy) A duct, any canal-shaped structure in the body: condotto biliare, condotto uditivo.^[6][7][3]
4. (geology) Condotto eruttivo or vulcanico: the vent of a volcano.^[7][16]

Adjective

1. (dated, bureaucratic) Of a doctor, midwife or vet: appointed and paid by a commune to care for the people of a district (condotta): medico condotto.^{[6][7][10][1]}
2. (mechanics) Of a wheel or shaft: driven by another wheel or shaft.^[6][11]
3. (archaic) Of a soldier: hired, mercenary.^[7][11][1]

Word family

• condotta
• condottiero

Related words

• condurre
• dotto
• acquedotto
• Latin conductum
• French conduit

Usage notes

As the past participle of condurre “to lead, conduct” the word is a verb form (una vita condotta in povertà).^[6][3] Old Italian also had a separate noun condotto or condutto “food, meal, banquet”, recorded in Patecchio's Frotula and taken from Old French conduit or Old Occitan conduch.^[2][17][9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 16, 1245
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ 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)
11. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ 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
14. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 506
15. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
17. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 319