conn

See also: Conn and Conn.

English

Alternative forms

• con

Etymology

Variant of cond, from Middle English conduen, condien, from Anglo-Norman conduire, from Latin condūcere, present active infinitive of condūcō (“lead, bring or draw together”), from con- (“with, together”) +‎ dūcō (“lead”). Doublet of conduce.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɑn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɒn/
• Homophone: con
• Rhymes: -ɒn

Noun

conn (plural conns)

1. The duty of directing a ship, usually used with the verb to have or to take and accompanied by the article "the."

   The officer of the deck has the conn of the vessel; the captain took the conn when she reached the bridge.

Derived terms

• have the conn (have the con)
• take the conn (take the con)

Verb

conn (third-person singular simple present conns, present participle conning, simple past and past participle conned)

1. (transitive) To direct a ship; to superintend the steering of (a vessel); to watch the course of (a vessel) and direct the helmsman how to steer (especially through a channel, etc, rather than steer a compass direction).

   The pilot conned the ship safely into the harbor.

   • 1724, Daniel Defoe, Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress, chapter 8

     “Ay,” says I, “you’ll allow me to steer, that is, hold the helm, but you’ll conn the ship, as they call it; that is, as at sea, a boy serves to stand at the helm, but he that gives him the orders is pilot.”

Derived terms

• conning line
• conning officer
• conning tower

Translations

to direct a ship

• Finnish: ohjata laivaa
• German: ein Schiff steuern
• Russian: управля́ть (ru) (upravljátʹ) (кораблём, су́дном), вести́ (ru) (vestí) (кора́бль, су́дно)

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} zapovijedat (brodom)

• Swedish: lotsa (sv)