Conducive

How to spell conducive

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce conducive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conducive mean?

1. adjectiveTending to make a particular result, especially a desirable one, more likely to happen.

Conducive in a sentence

• A quiet, tidy desk is far more conducive to concentration than a cluttered one.

• The long commute and constant noise were not conducive to a good night's sleep.

Where does conducive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces to the Latin verb conducere, which meant 'to lead or bring together', formed from con- 'together' and ducere 'to lead'. In its earliest English use during the 1600s, conducive carried the sense of 'leading toward' some result, and from there it settled into its modern meaning of helping to produce a favourable outcome. The ducere root, meaning 'to lead', is one of the most productive in English and quietly sits inside a crowd of familiar relatives such as conduct, produce, reduce, induce, and educate, all of which involve some kind of leading. Knowing that the middle of the word is duc, the 'lead' element, helps explain why it is spelled with that single c followed by -ive rather than anything fancier. The unstressed first syllable, sounding like a vague 'kuhn', is the real spelling trap, since the ear gives no clue that it should be con-.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• duc (lead, from Latin ducere)
• -ive (tending toward, adjective suffix)