conductor Latin · revision 34539

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus (c. 250–184 BC)|origins=la dūcō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [kɔnˈdʊk.tɔr]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [konˈduk.tor]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''conductor''' ''m'' (genitive conductōris, feminine conductrīx); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|condūcō|-tor|t1=to bring together; to hire]], the agent noun of the verb.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) That verb is formed from [[m|la|con-]] and [[m|la|dūcō|t=to lead]],^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) which goes back to [[itc-pro|*doukō]] and [[ine-pro|*dewk-|t=to draw, lead]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008) in the prologue of the ''Asinaria'', which wishes good fortune to the troupe, its owners and its ''conductores'', the people who hire it.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Classical Latin it named either side of a hiring or contract other than the owner: the person who hires others for wages, the contractor who undertakes a piece of work, and the lessee or tenant of a house or farm.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) L&S calls it rare and mostly used without a complement.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It was also used of the contractors who farmed public revenues;^(Georges 1913) Isidore of Seville explains the ''publicani'' as such contractors.^(Georges 1913)

+

+ Etymonline gives a Late Latin sense “carrier”.^(Etymonline) Medieval Latin used it for a manager of a manor, an escort, a waggoner and the commander of an army,^(Niermeyer 1976) and English took the word from French in the 1520s in the sense “one who leads or guides”.^(Etymonline) In New Latin it also names a [[m|en|conductor]] of heat or electricity.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of those who hire a troupe of actors.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a contractor who undertakes building work on a farm.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the contractor for a public work.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of tenants whose yearly rents were remitted.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville explains the ''publicani'' as contractors for the public revenues.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1520s – English borrows ''conductor'' through French, in the sense “one who leads or guides”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # One who [[m|en|hire|alt=hires]] people for wages, an [[m|en|employer]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # A [[m|en|contractor]], one who undertakes a piece of work or a public contract.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # A [[m|en|lessee]] or [[m|en|tenant]] of a house, farm or the like.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(Late Latin)'' A [[m|en|carrier]].^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The manager of a [[m|en|manor]].^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An [[m|en|escort]]; a [[m|en|waggoner]]; a military commander.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+ # ''(New Latin, physics)'' A [[m|en|conductor]] of heat or electricity.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|conductor]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In leases and contracts the ''conductor'' stands opposite the ''locātor'' or the owner, who lets the property or the work.^(Georges 1913) The feminine is ''conductrīx''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}