Conductive

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /kənˈdʌktɪv/

Definitions

1. Pertaining to the property of materials that permits the transmission of energy such as heat or electricity
2. Characterizing the ability of certain substances to enable the flow of electrical or thermal energy through them
3. Relating to substances that allow the passage of energy, such as thermal or electrical, through their structure

Etymology: "Conductive" is a plain formation: the adjective "conduct" with the suffix "-ive," meaning "having the quality of." The verb "conduct" comes from Latin "conducere," meaning "to lead together" or "to bring together," built from "com-" (together) and "ducere" (to lead). Its sense of guiding or escorting people is the older one, and the physical sense of channeling something through a medium developed from it. The suffix has a longer ancestry than the base word. "-ive" descends from Latin "-ivus," which passed through Old French "-if" and Middle English "-yf" before becoming the English "-ive" used to turn verbs into adjectives like "active" and "creative." Attaching it to "conduct" yields a word meaning "tending to conduct," which in physics and electrical engineering came to describe materials that let heat or electricity pass through them.

Synonyms: transmissive, conducting

Antonyms: insulating