Etymologically
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controllo

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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