conduzir

Forms

conduzir (first-person singular present conduzo, first-person singular preterite conduzi, past participle conduzido)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin condūcō (“to bring together; to lead; to hire”), formed of con- and dūcō (“to lead”).^[2][3][1][4] Nascentes counts it a semi-learned word.^[5] Its ending is that of the other Portuguese verbs from compounds of the Latin verb, which, Houaiss notes, had already settled in the old language on the pattern of aduzir, beside a few old forms in ⟨-duzer⟩.^[6]

The same Latin verb is Galician conducir, Spanish conducir, Catalan conduir, French conduire and Italian condurre.^[7][1] The Latin sense “to hire, to lease” lived on in Old Italian condotta (“lease”).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Cunha date the first record to 1572.^[2][3] The oldest sense in the dictionaries is “to guide, to accompany”: so Bluteau, who quotes a history of the House of Nemours for a count leading a convoy (Conduzia o Conde de Nassau hum grosso comboy), and Feijó in 1734.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1789) gives, beside “to guide, accompany”, the Latin sense “to hire” (to take on women at a fixed price to serve), and “to be useful, conducive to”.^[10] Houaiss still lists “to take into one's pay” and “to lease” as old senses.^[2] Figueiredo adds “to transport” and “to transmit”, and, of a road, “to lead to”.^[11] Modern dictionaries add “to drive (a vehicle)”, “to manage, govern”, “to conduct (heat, electricity)” and, reflexively, “to behave”, which Priberam marks as a Gallicism.^[2][12][13]

Timeline

• 1572 – first record.^[2][3]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau glosses conduzir “to guide, accompany”.^[8]
• 1734 – Feijó lists it with the same sense.^[9]
• 1755 – Folqman adds “to be useful for something”.^[14]
• 1789 – Morais records the sense “to hire”.^[10]
• 1813 – first record of conducente.^[3]
• 1899 – Figueiredo records “to transmit” and, of a road, “to lead to”.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lead or guide (a person, an animal, a group), going along with them: O pastor conduziu as cabras ao curral.^[2][15]
2. To drive or steer (a vehicle, a boat).^[2][12][1]
3. To transport, carry; to have room for: Esta carrinha conduz nove pessoas.^[2][15]
4. To manage, direct, govern (a country, a debate, a business).^[2][15]
5. (intransitive) To lead to, to end at (of a road); to result in.^[2][11]
6. (physics) To conduct (heat, electricity, sound).^[2][15]
7. (reflexive) To behave, to conduct oneself.^[2][13]
8. (obsolete) To hire, take into one's pay; to lease.^[2]

Related words

• condução
• conducente
• conduta
• conduto
• condutor
• aduzir
• Latin condūcō
• Spanish conducir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. conduzir
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. conduzir
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. condūcō
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. conduzir
6. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. aduzir
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2127
8. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conduzir
9. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conduzir
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 306
11. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. 328
12. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 2318
13. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. conduzir
14. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. conduzir
15. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. conduzir