conductor

• conductour (obsolete)

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

• IPA^(key): /kənˈdʌktɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧duc‧tor

conductor (plural conductors)

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;

3. (music) A person who conducts an orchestra, choir or other music ensemble; a professional whose occupation is conducting.
5. (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."

7. (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.

8. (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.

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

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

• IPA^(key): (Central) [kun.dukˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [kon.dukˈto]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kon.dukˈtoɾ]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

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

1. driving
2. conducting

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

1. driver

conductor m (plural conductors)

1. (physics) conductor

• semiconductor

• conduir

From condūcō (“to lead”) + -tor.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [kɔnˈdʊk.tɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [konˈduk.tor]

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

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

Third-declension noun.

• “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, 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.

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

1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1911 in Portugal) of condutor

Borrowed from French conducteur, from Latin conductor.

conductor n (plural conductoare)

1. (physics) conductor

conductor m (plural conductori)

1. driver
2. (physics) conductor

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

• IPA^(key): /konduɡˈtoɾ/ [kõn̪.d̪uɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

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

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

1. driver

   Synonyms: volante, chofer

2. motorist

   Synonym: motorista

3. (Mexico, Rioplatense) presenter; host (of a television show)

   Synonym: presentador

conductor m (plural conductores)

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

   Antonym: aislador/aislante

• “conductor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025