Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CON'DUCT, n. [Sp. conducta; It. condotta; Fr. conduite; from the L. conductus, but with a different sense, from conduco, to lead; con and duco. See Duke.]

1. Literally, the act of leading; guidance; command. So Waller has used it. Conduct of armies is a prince's art
2. The art of convoying, or guarding; guidance or bringing along under protection. – Shak.
3. Guard on the way; convoy; escort. – Shak. [These senses are now unusual, though not improper.]
4. In a general sense, personal behavior; course of actions; deportment; applicable equally to a good or bad course of actions; as laudable conduct; detestable conduct. The word seems originally to have been followed with life, actions, affairs, or other term; as, the conduct of life; the conduct of actions; that is, the leading along of life or actions. Young men in the conduct and manage of actions embrace more than they can hold. – Bacon. What in the conduct of our life appears. – Dryden. But by custom, conduct alone is now used to express the idea of behavior or course of life and manners.
5. Exact behavior; regular life. [Unusual.] – Swift.
6. Management; mode of carrying on. Christianity has humanized the conduct of war. – Paley.
7. The title of two clergymen appointed to read prayers at Eton College in England. – Mason.