conduce

Forms

conduce (third-person singular present conduce, past participle condus, third-person subjunctive conducă), 3rd conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin condūcō (“to bring together, gather, (late) to lead”), a learned borrowing that took on the senses of French conduire.^[2][3] The Latin verb is formed con- and dūcō (“to lead”).^[2][1] DEX, MDA2 and Tiktin give only the Latin word.^[4][5][6] In Romanian it is conjugated like the inherited duce, with the past participle condus.^[1][6][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1787, in a text of instructions, with the senses “to take someone along, to accompany, to guide”.^[2] Tiktin's first record is from 1794.^[6] MDA2's first quotation is from Costache Negruzzi, whose porter „îl conduse” “showed him” to the oak.^[5][7]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is to take someone with you, to accompany or guide;^[7][5] a conduce la altar “to lead to the altar” means to marry.^[7][5] From it came “to direct, to command” an institution, an army, an orchestra or a boat, and the driving of a vehicle.^[7][4] The reflexive a se conduce după means to be guided by rules or principles, and in physics the verb means to transmit heat or electricity.^[4][2] Sports language uses it for leading a ranking.^[8]

A large family followed in the 19th and 20th centuries, partly formed in Romanian and partly borrowed from French: conductor (1799, proposed by Iorgovici as a new word), conducere (1822), conducător (1830), conductibilitate (1852), conductă (1907).^[2]

Timeline

• 1787 – the first record, in a text of instructions.^[2]
• 1794 – Tiktin's first record.^[6]
• 1799 – conductor proposed by Iorgovici in a list of new words.^[2]
• 1822 – conducere and conduct in Bobb's dictionary.^[2]
• 1830 – conducător “leader”.^[2]
• 1878 – autoconducere “self-government”, after English self-government.^[2]
• 1907 – conductă “pipe”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lead and direct a group, an institution or an organization, being responsible for its work;^[4][5] (figurative) to chair a discussion or a debate.^[4][5]
2. (reflexive) To be guided by norms or principles; to behave.^[4]
3. To accompany someone, to show them the way: L-am condus până la gară.^[4][5]
4. To drive a vehicle or a machine.^[4][5]
5. (physics) Of a body, to conduct a fluid, heat or electricity.^[4]
6. (sports) To lead, to be first in a ranking or a score.^[8][1]

Word family

• autoconducere
• conducere
• conductă
• conductibil
• conductibilitate
• conductiv
• conductivitate
• conductor
• conducție
• electroconductor

Related words

• duce
• conduită
• Latin condūcō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
3. ^ 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 219
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 483
6. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. condúce
7. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. conduce
8. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. conduce