Conducting

How to spell conducting

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce conducting

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does conducting mean?

1. verbOrganising and carrying out an activity, task, or piece of business.
2. verbDirecting the performance of an orchestra, choir, or other group of musicians.
3. verbTransmitting heat, electricity, or sound through a material.

Conducting in a sentence

• The firm is conducting a thorough review of its hiring practices.

• She spent the whole evening conducting the orchestra without a single glance at the score.

• Copper is excellent at conducting electricity, which is why it fills most cables.

• Researchers are conducting interviews with hundreds of patients.

• He is conducting the choir for the annual carol concert.

• The metal handle kept conducting heat from the pan to her fingers.

Where does conducting come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb conducere, which literally meant 'to lead or bring together', formed from the prefix con- 'together' and the verb ducere 'to lead'. In Roman usage it could mean to hire, to gather, or to escort, all built on that core idea of leading. English took it in through the related Latin noun conductus during the late medieval period, and by the 1400s the verb 'conduct' carried senses of guiding, escorting, and managing. Over the centuries the meaning branched: from directing people and affairs, to leading a piece of music as a conductor, and on to the scientific sense of a material carrying or transmitting heat or electricity along itself. The same ducere root that gives 'lead' here also sits inside everyday relatives like 'produce', 'reduce', and 'aqueduct', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the 'duct' chunk intact rather than softening it.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• duct (lead, from Latin ducere 'to lead')
• -ing (present participle)