condurre Italian · revision 39180

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th or early 13th century, Ritmo di Sant'Alessio|origins=ine-pro *dewk-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /konˈdur.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''condurre''' (first-person singular present condùco, first-person singular past historic condùssi, past participle condótto, first-person singular imperfect conducévo, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ The older infinitive is [[conducere]], now archaic; the present ''conduco'' and the past participle ''condotto'' keep the Latin stem.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|condūcō|t=to bring together; to hire, rent]], formed from [[m|la|con-|t=with, together]] and [[m|la|dūcō|t=to lead]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The infinitive is a contraction of the older [[conducere]], which Devoto explains through a northern lenited ⟨*condu(g)ere⟩ that was then treated like [[fare]], [[trarre]] and [[correre|alt=corre]]; the present stem kept the Latin form.^(Devoto 1968)^(Wiktionary) The learned derivatives [[conducibile]], [[conduttore]] and [[conduzione]] came from Latin [[m|la|conductor]] and [[m|la|conductiō]] and their kin.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The same verb is [[fr|conduire]], [[oc|conduire]], [[ca|conduir]], [[es|conducir]], [[pt|conduzir]], [[fur|condùsi]] and Engadine [[m|rm|condür]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(LEI|16, 1206) The LEI notes that it did not survive in Romanian or Sardinian.^(LEI|16, 1206) The Latin sense “to hire, take on lease” lives on in the old senses of [[condotta]] “lease; district”, in [[medico condotto]] “municipal doctor” and in [[condottiero]], the captain of hired troops.^(REW 1935)^(LEI|16, 1206)

+

+ The Latin verb goes back to Proto-Italic ⟨*douk-e-⟩ and the Proto-Indo-European present [[m|ine-pro|*dewk-|t=to draw, pull]], continued in [[got|𐍄𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌰𐌽|tr=tiuhan|t=to draw]] and [[wlm|dygaf|t=I bring]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is the ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio'' from the Marche, of the second half of the 12th century, which DELI dates to the beginning of the 13th; there the verb means “to accompany, guide a person”.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''condurre'' already covered moving people, animals, vehicles and goods from place to place, leading someone into a condition, governing a city, commanding an army and managing a business.^(TLIO) The Latin senses “to hire” and “to rent” were also alive: Tuscan and other documents of the 14th and 15th centuries use the verb for taking a house or land on lease and for engaging soldiers, doctors and workers.^(LEI|16, 1206)^(Treccani 2011) Dante writes ''Amor condusse noi ad una morte'' “love led us to one death”.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ The sense “to run, administer” is recorded in the 14th-century Italian Livy.^(DELI 1999) Physics took the verb for transmitting heat and electricity, and [[conduttore]] in the electrical sense follows English ''conductor'', a term fixed by Desaguliers in 1739.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) In sport, from 1950, ''condurre'' means to be in the lead,^(DELI 1999) and later it came to mean presenting a television or radio programme.^(GDLI)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th or early 13th century – The ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio'' uses the verb for “to guide a person”.^(TLIO)^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1282 – ''Condotto'' “pipe, channel” is recorded in Restoro d'Arezzo.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani has ''condottiero'', the captain of a mercenary company.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 14th century – The verb is used for “to manage, administer” in the Italian translation of Livy.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1739 – Desaguliers fixes English ''conductor'' as an electrical term, the model of Italian ''conduttore''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1950 – ''Condurre'' is recorded in sport for “to be in the lead”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|lead]], take, accompany someone somewhere: ''Ogni mattina conduce la figlia all'asilo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To bring someone into a state or condition: ''condurre qualcuno alla rovina''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To [[m|en|drive]] a vehicle or steer a boat.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To carry on, [[m|en|conduct]] an activity: ''condurre una trattativa, un'indagine''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|manage]], run; to present a television or radio programme.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GDLI)

+ # To command: ''condurre le truppe''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # To lead a life of a certain kind: ''Conduceva una vita ritirata in campagna.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(sport)'' To be in the lead: ''La squadra di casa conduce per due a uno.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(physics)'' To conduct heat or electricity.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To carry water or gas through pipes or channels.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(mathematics)'' To draw a line: ''condurre una retta parallela''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive)'' Of a road, to lead somewhere.^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[condotta]]

+ * [[condotto]]

+ * [[condottiero]]

+ * [[conducente]]

+ * [[conduttore]]

+ * [[conduttura]]

+ * [[conduzione]]

+ * [[conducibilità]]

+ * [[ricondurre]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dedurre]]

+ * [[introdurre]]

+ * [[produrre]]

+ * [[ridurre]]

+ * [[tradurre]]

+ * [[duce]]

+ * [[la|condūcō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Common fixed phrases are ''condurre a termine'', to bring to completion, and ''condurre in porto'', to bring an undertaking to a successful end.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010) The old sense “to rent, to hire” survives in law as “to take on lease”.^(Treccani 2011)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}