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Who was the first American to conduct an opera at Milan's La Scala?

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conduct

American  

[kon-duhkt, kuhn-duhkt] / ˈkɒn dʌkt, kənˈdʌkt /

noun

1. personal behavior; way of acting; bearing or deportment.

   Synonyms:

   manners, actions, comportment, demeanor

2. direction or management; administration.

   the conduct of a business.

   Synonyms:

   government, guidance

3. the act of conducting; guidance.

   The curator's conduct through the museum was informative.

4. Obsolete. a guide; an escort.

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verb (used with object)

• conducts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• conducted,
  past participle,  past
• conducting
  present participle

1. to behave or manage (oneself).

   He conducted himself well.

   Synonyms:

   bear, deport

2. to direct in action or course; manage; carry on: to conduct a test.

   to conduct a meeting;

   to conduct a test.

   Synonyms:

   administer, supervise

3. to direct (an orchestra, chorus, etc.) as leader.

4. to lead or guide; escort.

   to conduct a tour.

5. to serve as a channel or medium for (heat, electricity, sound, etc.).

   Copper conducts electricity.

verb (used without object)

• conducts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• conducted,
  past participle,  past
• conducting
  present participle

1. to lead.

2. to act as conductor, or leader of a musical group, by communicating a specific interpretation of the music to the performers by motions of a baton or the hands.

conduct British  

noun

1. the manner in which a person behaves; behaviour

2. the way of managing a business, affair, etc; handling

3. rare the act of guiding or leading

4. rare a guide or leader

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verb

1. (tr) to accompany and guide (people, a party, etc) (esp in the phrase conducted tour )

2. (tr) to lead or direct (affairs, business, etc); control

3. (tr) to do or carry out

   conduct a survey

4. (tr) to behave or manage (oneself)

   the child conducted himself well

5. Also (esp US): direct. to control or guide (an orchestra, choir, etc) by the movements of the hands or a baton

6. to transmit (heat, electricity, etc)

   metals conduct heat

Usage

What are other ways to say conduct?

To conduct oneself is to behave or manage oneself. To conduct a tour is to lead or guide it. How does conduct compare to synonyms guide, direct, and lead? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Synonym Usage

See behavior.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• conductibility
  noun
• nonconductibility
  noun
• preconduct
  verb (used with object)
• reconduct
  verb (used with object)
• conductible
  adjective
• nonconductible
  adjective
• unconductible
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• conducting
  present
• conducted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• conduct
  simple
• conducts
  simple
• have conducted
  perfect
• has conducted
  perfect
• am conducting
  progressive
• are conducting
  progressive
• is conducting
  progressive
• have been conducting
  perfect progressive
• has been conducting
  perfect progressive

Past

• conducted
  simple
• had conducted
  perfect
• was conducting
  progressive
• were conducting
  progressive
• had been conducting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will conduct
  simple
• will have conducted
  perfect
• will be conducting
  progressive
• will have been conducting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of conduct

First recorded in 1250–1300; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin conductus “escort,” noun use of Latin conductus (past participle of condūcere “to lead, bring together”), equivalent to con- con- + duc- “to lead” + -tus past participle suffix; replacing Middle English conduyt(e), from Anglo-French, from Latin as above; see conduit; conduce

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Explanation

The noun conduct refers to behavior, like how students are rewarded for good conduct. The verb conduct means carry something through, as in "to conduct a survey." And if you lead an orchestra, you conduct it. Your conduct (accent on the first syllable), or your own behavior, is the way you conduct (accent on the second syllable), or lead, yourself. Keep the accent on the second syllable to conduct, or lead, an orchestra, and to conduct an interview by asking someone questions. Also, metals like copper or gold conduct electricity by letting the electricity pass through.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

conduct conducts conducted conducting

Elevance’s lawsuit alleged the Perfect Child’s conduct amounted to fraud, breach of contract, conspiracy and other claims.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

Understandably tired after flying in from Paris the night before, Harding is in town to conduct three concerts of Brahms and Bernstein this weekend.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

"This technique helped us confirm that manganese telluride was really exhibiting altermagnetic properties," said Rachel Nickel, postdoctoral scientist with ESRF, a co-author who helped design and conduct the experiment on the ID32 beamline.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 4, 2026

"Furthermore, as NoName057 is not known to effectively conduct operations beyond DDoS attacks and has a history of making false attributions, we remain sceptical of their alleged claim of responsibility."

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026

Ida Wells-Barnett organized the Alpha Suffrage Club to conduct door-to-door registration and sign up legions of new women voters.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

Cameron Berg is the founder of Reciprocal Research, a nonprofit that conducts empirical research on AI consciousness and welfare.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 24, 2026

Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said that the Defense Department conducts “extensive due diligence” before extending capital assistance.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026

Allies are currently bracing for possible cuts to US forces in Europe as the Pentagon conducts a review of its deployments on the continent.

From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026

The airline conducts in-house psychology checks for first officers as they graduate to captain.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Anchorman Walter Cronkite conducts an interview in Hue, Vietnam, for his CBS News Special Report on the war, 1968.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

To explore the question, Anderson and his colleagues conducted a 12-week study involving 74 adults with overweight or obesity.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026

Dozens of RTÉ staff gathered outside the broadcaster's headquarters in Donnybrook earlier as gardaí conducted searches.

From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026

About 56% of voters nationally said data centers were a crucial or major factor in their picks for Congress, according to a national survey conducted by polling firm SSRS.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026

“We still deserve answers about why he was shot, how the ICE agents involved conducted themselves, and whether those agents faced any disciplinary action for their dangerous and aggressive conduct,” Torres said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

As a result, these condottieri have conducted Italy into slavery and disgrace.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Handler cites her experience as a Dudamel Fellow, in 2024, conducting “Swan Lake” selections for the orchestra’s youth series.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

A spokesman for the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office, which is conducting the investigation, declined to comment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

Asked Monday about Sunday's reported test, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Jang Do-young said South Korea and the United States were "closely coordinating and conducting a highly detailed analysis of its characteristics and specifications".

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2026

According to the researchers, the foundation had no involvement in designing or conducting the study, analyzing or interpreting the results, or preparing the manuscript.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026

Summers he worked for scientists conducting geologic research in Antarctica or escorted climbers into New Zealand’s Southern Alps.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

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