control English · revision 2308

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1422 (Rolls of Parliament)|origins=la-med contrārotulus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /kənˈtrəʊl/, US /kənˈtroʊl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|countrollen|t=to check, verify accounts]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|xno|contreroller|t=to keep a copy of a roll of accounts]],^(COED 2004)^(SOED 2002)^(AHD 2000) from [[la-med|contrārotulāre|t=to check by a duplicate register]],^(AHD 2000)^(SOED 2002) from [[m|la-med|contrārotulus|t=copy of a roll]],^(AHD 2000)^(COED 2004) from [[la|contrā|t=against]] and [[m|la|rotulus|t=roll]], a diminutive of [[m|la|rota|t=wheel]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) It comes from the medieval practice of checking accounts against a duplicate register.^(Etymonline)^(COED 2004)^(Cresswell 2021) The noun is partly from the verb and partly [[bor|frm|contrôle]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To check or verify payments and accounts: 1422, in the Rolls of Parliament.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Etymonline quotes an Anglo-French ''contrerollour'' in the household ordinances of Edward II, about 1310.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “to direct, dominate” is from 1451.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The noun is from 1590, “restraint”, in Shakespeare's ''Comedy of Errors'',^(Barnhart 1988) or the 1580s.^(Etymonline) A ''control'' became a standard of comparison in experiments by 1857, probably after German ''Controleversuche'',^(Etymonline) and the OED has it from 1875.^(OED 1989) The levers and instruments that steer a machine or aircraft were ''controls'' from 1908.^(OED 1989) Later compounds include ''control room'' (1897), ''control tower'' (1920), ''control group'' (1952) and ''control freak'' (1969).^(Etymonline) ''Everything under control'' is recorded from 1933.^(OED 1989) ''Controller'' “one who checks expenditure” dates from before 1387,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''comptroller'' is a variant spelling of it.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1310 – Anglo-French ''contrerollour''.^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1387 – ''controller''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1422 – verb, to check accounts.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1451 – to direct, dominate.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1590 – noun, restraint (Shakespeare).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1857 – a standard in experiments.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1908 – the controls of a machine.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1920 – ''control tower''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1969 – ''control freak''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To have power over; to direct or [[govern]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To hold back; to [[restrain]].^(AHD)

+ # To check or verify, as an experiment against a standard, or an account against a duplicate [[register]].^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The power to direct or manage.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # A means of restraint; a [[curb]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A device or set of instruments for operating a machine or vehicle.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # A standard of comparison for checking the results of an [[experiment]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[controllability]]

+ * [[controllable]]

+ * [[controlment]]

+ * [[controllably]]

+ * [[controlless]]

+ * [[controllingly]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[roll]]

+ * [[contra]]

+ * [[comptroller]]

+ * [[rotate]]

+ * [[rota]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}