conductress (konduktres), xtres)

[= F. conduc trice, OF. conductere e, conduitre e, etc.; as conductor + -e .] A female who leads, guides, or directs; a directre . A prudent and diligent conductre of her family. Johnson, To Mrs. Thrale, 1773. Obedient to what he understood to be the meaning of his conductre , Halbert bared his arm to the shoulder. Scott , Monastery, I. 161. All the apartments in the castle that we cared to see, or our conductre cared to show us. The Atlantic , LIX. 538. conductus (kon-duk'tus), n. [ML., lit., in def. 1 a 'led' or 'conducted' song, in def. 2 a 'hired' priest: see conduct , a . and n., and conduit2.] 1. An old form of vocal composition in which the tenor, instead of being confined to canto fermo, was, like the other parts, invented or freely treated by the composer. It was called conductus simplex , duplex (also triplun ), etc., but the nature of these distinctions is matter of controversy. conductus 2. An unendowed chaplain: the name and office are both retained at Eton. Lee's Glo ary. conduet, v. t. [ME. conduen, counduen, condien, see conduce.] To lead; conduct. To sett hym in the waye, & coundue hym by the downes, Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 1971. Go we to the a aut, that God vs alle condie. Rob . of Brunne , tr. of Langtoft's Chron., p. 182. conduit1 (kon'- or kun'dit), n. [ conduit , condut, cond it, condite , also cundit , cundite , cundeth, cundith , etc., cond it , m., conduct, guidance, escort, company, conductor, safe-conduct, also a way, channel, tube, canal, conduit, F. conduit, tube, canal; OF. also conduite , f., in like senses, F. conduite , conduct, = Sp. Pg. conduct a , conduct, conducto , conduit, It. condotta , conduct, condotto, canal, conduit, conductus , escort, etc., also a tube, canal, etc.: see conduct , n.] 11. Conduct; guidance; escort: in this sense now conduct. Than the grekes, by agrement, gyffen hom a signe, By cundeth to come, & carpe what hom liste. 1178 gether: see conduplicate.] In bot., folded together, as the opposite leaflets of a pinnate leaf applied each to the other, face to face. conduplicate (kon-dū'pli-kāt), v. t.; pret. and pp. con duplicated, ppr. con duplicating. [L. conduplicatus, pp. of conduplicare, double together,