conducător

Forms

conducător m (plural conducători, feminine equivalent conducătoare)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian conduce + -ător, from the verb conduce “to lead, to drive”.^[2][3][4][1] DLRM derives it from the present stem ⟨conduc⟩ with the suffix.^[5] DELR and Ciorănescu list it among the derivatives of the verb.^[6][7] The verb is a learned borrowing of Latin condūcō (“to bring together; later, to lead”), from con- and dūcō (“to lead”), taken with the senses of French conduire.^[6][7]

Gabinschi groups it with conductor, which Ciorănescu derives from French conducteur, as words of the same Latin family.^[8][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1830, in the press.^[6] Tiktin's first record is from 1840, with the German glosses “leader, guide”.^[4] MDA2's first record, a physics textbook by Petru Poni of 1897, is later.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Both the noun and the adjective were in use by the end of the 19th century: a person who leads, and in physics a body that is a good or bad conductor of heat or electricity, for which Scriban and CADE give bun or rău conducător.^[9][10][2] In the mid-20th century the noun was used for the political and ideological leader of a party or movement.^[11][12] Conducător auto “driver of a motor vehicle” is recorded in the press from 1975.^[13] The adjective also means “guiding, principal”: idee conducătoare “leading idea”, fir conducător “guiding thread”.^[11]

Timeline

• 1830 – conducător, the first record, in the press.^[6]
• 1840 – recorded with the sense “leader, guide”.^[4]
• 1897 – in Petru Poni's physics textbook.^[2]
• 1899 – the derivative conducătorie “leadership”.^[6]
• 1975 – conducător auto “driver” in the press.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Who or which leads; leading, guiding: rol conducător.^[3][14][1]
2. Of a body: bun (sau rău) conducător de căldură (sau de electricitate), which is (or is not) a good conductor of heat or electricity.^[3][2]

Noun

1. A leader: a person or body that runs a state, a party, an organization, an institution or a business.^[3][1]
2. conducător auto: the driver of a motor vehicle.^[2][13][1]

Word family

• conducătorie

Related words

• conduce
• conducere
• conductor
• Latin condūcō

Usage notes

The feminine is conducătoare, for both the adjective and the noun.^[3][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 482
3. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 219
4. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. conducătór
5. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
6. ^ a b c d e Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. conduce
7. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. conduce
8. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 84
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 330
10. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească
11. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 518
12. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. conducător
13. ^ a b c Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. conducătór
14. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. conducător