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controllo

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word controllo

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1666, Agostino Sagredo
Borrowed from
French contrôle
Ultimate origin
Middle French contrerole
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French contrôle
German Kontrolle
Italian controllo
From the same root
French contrôler ← contrôle

Pronunciation

  • /konˈtrɔl.lo/[1]

Forms

controllo m (plural controlli)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French contrôle (“check, verification”), recorded in French in 1611.[2][3][4][5] The French word is a shortened form of Middle French contrerole (14th century), literally “counter-roll”, a register kept in duplicate so that the accounts could be checked against it.[2][3][4][6] It is made of contre (“against”) and role (“roll, register”), which goes back to Latin rotulus (“little wheel; roll”), a diminutive of rota (“wheel”).[7] The medieval Latin form was contrarotulum.[6] The ending ⟨-ollo⟩ adapts the French ⟨-ôle⟩, as in consolle and percalle.[8]

The French verb contrôler (1210, as ⟨contreroller⟩) and the noun contrôleur (1292) gave controllare and controllore.[2][3] An earlier adaptation of ⟨contrerolleur⟩, ⟨contrarolo⟩, is in a document of 1506 and in Machiavelli.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are scattered: in 1666 Agostino Sagredo uses controllo for a controller, and in 1798 the assemblies of the Cisalpine Republic use it for the register of the men and operations of a military corps.[2] The sense “checking, verification” is recorded in 1812 in Bernardoni.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The word and its family spread in Italy during the Napoleonic period and won out despite the purists.[2] Tommaseo in 1869 still called controllare a foreign word and suggested riscontrare or sindacare in its place.[2][9] The senses “power, command” and “self-control”, recorded from 1921 (Giuseppe Antonio Borgese), are calques of English control.[2] Controllo delle nascite is a loan translation of English birth control, a phrase of 1914 credited to Margaret Sanger; in 1935 Panzini still gave it in English.[2][5]

Today the word covers inspections of every kind (controllo dei passaporti, controllo di qualità), the office or place where they happen, medical check-ups, control of a vehicle and, in business, the control of a company through a majority of its shares.[4][10][11]

Timeline

  • 1506 – The adaptation contrarolo “controller” appears in a document.[2]
  • 1611 – French contrôle is recorded.[2][4]
  • 1666 – Agostino Sagredo uses controllo for a controller.[2][4]
  • 1798 – It is used for a military register in the Cisalpine Republic.[2]
  • 1812 – Bernardoni records the sense “checking”, and rejects it.[2]
  • 1921 – Borgese uses it for “mastery, command”.[2]
  • 1935 – Panzini gives birth control in English.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. check, inspection, verification: il controllo dei biglietti, un controllo di qualità.[4][10][5]
  2. (medicine) checkup, a follow-up visit: Devo tornare dal medico per un controllo.[4][10][1]
  3. surveillance, supervision, especially by the police or the military: La zona è sotto il controllo dell'esercito.[4][5]
  4. the office, people or place where checks are made: Ci hanno fermati al controllo.[4][5][11]
  5. regulation of an activity by an authority: il controllo degli affitti.[4][5]
  6. command, mastery: perdere il controllo della macchina; self-control: perdere il controllo.[4][11][12]
  7. (finance) control of a company through a majority of its shares.[4][11]

Word family

Usage notes

Common phrases are sotto controllo “under control”, fuori controllo “out of control” and controllo delle nascite “birth control”.[1][10][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1085
  7. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 700
  8. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
  10. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  12. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  13. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Controllo.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/controllo. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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