conductor

English

Alternative forms

• conductour (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French conductour, from Old French conduitor, from Latin conductor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈdʌktɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

conductor (plural conductors, feminine conductress or conductrix)

1. One who conducts or leads; a guide; a director.
   • 1687, [John Dryden], “The Third Part”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: Jacob Tonson , →OCLC, page 96:

     […] Zeal, the blind conductor of the will;

2. (music) A person who conducts an orchestra, choir or other music ensemble; a professional whose occupation is conducting.
3. (rail transport) A person who takes tickets on public transportation and also helps passengers.

   train conductor

   tram conductor

   • 2022 April 6, “Network News: Booze ban continues as part of move to prioritise women's safety”, in RAIL, number 954, page 6:

     " […] And one of the things that makes me feel safe is when I see the conductor."

4. (physics) Something that can transmit electricity, heat, light, or sound.

   Antonyms: dielectric, nonconductor, insulator

   Coordinate term: semiconductor

   • 1952, Safety Maintenance:

     Falling conductors may come in contact with grounded objects or puddles of water.

   • 1997, Institution of Electrical Engineers, Fourth International Conference on Advances in Power System Control, Operation & Management, 11-13 November 1997, Institution of Electrical Engineers:

     The failure of HIF detection leads to potential hazard to human beings and potential fire. HIFS are usually caused by falling conductors coming into contact with a surface having poor conductivity.

5. (mathematics) An ideal of a ring that measures how far it is from being integrally closed
   • 1988, F van Oystaeyen, Lieven Le Bruyn, Perspectives in ring theory:

     If c is the conductor ideal for R in R then prime ideals not containing c correspond to localizations yielding discrete valuation rings.

6. A grooved sound or staff used for directing instruments, such as lithontriptic forceps; a director.
7. (architecture) A leader.

Derived terms

Related terms

• conduct

Translations

See also

• ticket inspector

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin conductōrem (“contractor, employer”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

conductor (feminine conductora, masculine plural conductors, feminine plural conductores)

1. driving
2. conducting

Noun

conductor m (plural conductors)

1. driver
2. (physics) conductor

Related terms

• conduir

Latin

Etymology

From condūcō (“I lead”) +‎ -tor.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /konˈduk.tor/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /konˈduk.tor/,

Noun

conductor m (genitive conductōris, feminine conductrīx); third declension

1. employer, entrepreneur
2. contractor
3. (physics) conductor (of heat, electricity etc)

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Descendants

References

• “conductor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “conductor”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• conductor in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• conductor in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

Noun

conductor m (plural conductores, feminine conductora, feminine plural conductoras)

1. Obsolete form of condutor.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French conducteur, from Latin conductor.

Noun

conductor n (plural conductoare)

1. (physics) conductor

Declension

Noun

conductor m (plural conductori)

1. driver
2. (physics) conductor

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin conductorem (“contractor, employer”). Cognate with English conductor.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /konduɡˈtoɾ/

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: con‧duc‧tor

Noun

conductor m (plural conductores, feminine conductora, feminine plural conductoras)

1. driver

   Synonyms: volante, chofer

2. motorist

   Synonym: motorista

3. (Argentina, Uruguay) presenter; host (of a television show)

   Synonym: presentador

Derived terms

Related terms

Noun

conductor m (plural conductores)

1. conductor (transmitter of electricity, heat, light or sound)

Further reading

• “conductor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014