What does conducting mean?
Conducting is the present participle of the verb conduct, a word whose reach extends from the concert hall to the laboratory to the power grid. In its most visible sense, conducting means standing before an orchestra or choir and directing the performance with gestures of the hands and baton. More broadly, it describes carrying out any organised activity — scientists conducting experiments, journalists conducting interviews, firms conducting business across borders. In the physical sciences, conducting also denotes the transmission of electricity or heat through a material, which is why metals are called good conductors. The word derives from Latin conducere, 'to lead together', via Old French conduire, giving it a core sense of guidance and direction that survives across all its uses. Whether applied to musicians, researchers, or electrons, conducting consistently implies someone or something taking charge and channelling effort or energy toward a purposeful result.
verb (present participle and gerund of 'conduct')Conducting is the present participle of the verb conduct, meaning to direct or lead an activity such as an orchestra, a scientific experiment, a survey, or the flow of electricity or heat.
- Directing the performance of an orchestra, choir, or other musical ensemble.
- Carrying out or leading an activity such as research, an experiment, a survey, an interview, or negotiations.
- Transmitting energy such as electricity or heat through a material.
- Guiding or escorting a person or group (e.g. conducting visitors through a building).
"The physicist was conducting experiments on supercooled fluids when the power failed."
"Maureen spent the evening conducting Beethoven's Ninth before a packed concert hall."
"Researchers have been conducting field surveys across the delta since early spring."
The same word that directs a symphony also describes how electricity moves through copper — conducting is one of the few English verbs equally at home on a concert podium and in a physics textbook.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of conducting
Conducting comes from the Latin verb conducere, meaning 'to lead or bring together', formed from com- ('together') and ducere ('to lead'). The word passed into English through Old French conduit/conduire and appeared as the verb conduct in English by the late Middle Ages, initially meaning to guide or escort people. Over subsequent centuries its sense broadened to directing activities, transmitting electricity and heat (a usage that grew naturally after the scientific study of electricity), and, from the nineteenth century, directing musical performances. Its cognates include conductor, conduction, and the related conduit, all sharing the same Latin root of leading.
Related word forms
How conducting is actually used
Conducting appears in both formal and everyday registers. In music it refers specifically to directing performers; in professional and academic contexts it usually means carrying out research or business; in physics it describes transmission of heat or electricity, often in participial phrases like 'materials capable of conducting electricity'. The musical sense carries connotations of authority and artistry, while the research sense sounds neutral and procedural.
Easily confused with conducting
Conducting means directing or carrying out an activity, while condoning means accepting or overlooking behaviour that is wrong.