# conductor
## English
### Alternative forms

* conductour (obsolete)

### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /kənˈdʌktɚ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: con‧duc‧tor

### Noun

conductor (plural conductors)
* One who conducts or leads; a guide; a director.
** 1687,, “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;
* (music) A person who conducts an orchestra, choir or other music ensemble; a professional whose occupation is conducting.
* (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."
* (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.
* (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.
* A grooved sound or staff used for directing instruments, such as lithontriptic forceps; a director.
* (architecture) A leader.

#### Derived terms

* Bioconductor
* bus conductor
* conductoress
* conductorette
* conductorial
* conductorless
* conductorly
* conductor rail
* conductorship
* hyperconductor
* lightning conductor
* microconductor
* multiconductor
* nanoconductor
* osteoconductor
* photoconductor
* radioconductor
* reconductor
* superconductor

#### Related terms

* conduct

#### See also

* ticket inspector

## Catalan
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [kun.dukˈto]
* IPA: (Balearic) [kon.dukˈto]
* IPA: (Valencia) [kon.dukˈtoɾ]

### Adjective

conductor (feminine conductora, masculine plural conductors, feminine plural conductores)
* driving
* conducting

### Noun

conductor m (plural conductors)
* driver
* (physics) conductor

#### Related terms

* conduir

## Latin
### Etymology

From condūcō (“I lead”) +‎ -tor.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /konˈduk.tor/, [kɔn̪ˈd̪ʊkt̪ɔr]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /konˈduk.tor/, [kon̪ˈd̪ukt̪or]

### Noun

conductor m (genitive conductōris, feminine conductrīx); third declension
* employer, entrepreneur
* contractor
* (physics) conductor (of heat, electricity etc)

#### Declension

Third-declension noun.

#### Descendants

* Catalan: conductor
* English: conductor
* French: conducteur
* Galician: conductor
* Old French: conduitor
* Portuguese: condutor
* Romanian: conducător, conductor
* Russian: конду́ктор (kondúktor)
* Spanish: conductor

### 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)
* Pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of condutor.

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French conducteur, from Latin conductor.

### Noun

conductor n (plural conductoare)
* (physics) conductor

#### Declension
### Noun

conductor m (plural conductori)
* driver
* (physics) conductor

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /konduɡˈtoɾ/ [kõn̪.d̪uɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
* Audio (Colombia):(file)
* Rhymes: -oɾ
* Syllabification: con‧duc‧tor

### Noun

conductor m (plural conductores, feminine conductora, feminine plural conductoras)
* driver
    Synonyms: volante, chofer
* motorist
    Synonym: motorista
* (Rioplatense) presenter; host (of a television show)
    Synonym: presentador

#### Derived terms

* registro de conductor

#### Related terms

* conducir

### Noun

conductor m (plural conductores)
* conductor (transmitter of electricity, heat, light or sound)
    Antonym: aislador/aislante

### Further reading

* “conductor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10