controller

English

Etymology

From Middle English countreroller, from Anglo-Norman contreroulour and Middle French contreroleur (French contrôleur), from Medieval Latin contrārotulātor, from *contrārotulāre (from which control). By surface analysis, control +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹəʊlə/
(General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹoʊlɚ/
Hyphenation: con‧trol‧ler
Homophone: comptroller (one pronunciation)
Rhymes: -əʊlə(ɹ)

Noun

controller (plural controllers)

One who controls something.
- 1700, John Dryden (tr.), “The Wife of Bath, Her Tale”:
  The great controller of our fate / Deigned to be man, and lived in low estate.
(electronics) Any electric or mechanical device for controlling a circuit or system.
- 1963 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, page 115:
  Nothing more can be squeezed out of the motive power unit once the master controller has been moved to full on.
(business) The chief accounting officer which audits, and manages the financial affairs of a company or government; a comptroller.
(computer hardware) A mechanism that controls or regulates the operation of a machine, especially a peripheral device in a computer.
(video games) A hardware device designed to allow the user to play video games.
Synonym: game controller
- 1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
  I'm collecting player's names for a school project. You know, players just like you! That's right, you--the one holding the controller. Would you register your name, please?
(nautical) An iron block, usually bolted to a ship's deck, for controlling the running out of a chain cable. The links of the cable tend to drop into hollows in the block, and thus hold fast until disengaged.
(espionage) The person who supervises and handles communication with an agent in the field.
(linguistics) The subject of a control verb. See Control (linguistics)
- 2004, Paul K. Kroeger, Analyzing Syntax: A Lexical-Functional Approach, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN (hardback), →ISBN (paperback), chapter 5.4, 117:
  The choice of controller is determined by the matrix verb. If, as in (30b) and (3la), the main verb does not subcategorize for an OBJ, then the controller is the matrix SUBJ. In this case the complement clause is interpreted as having the same subject as the main clause. If the main verb does take an OBJ, the controller is the matrix patient.
(software architecture) In software applications using the model-view-controller design pattern, the part or parts of the application that treat input and output, forming an interface between models and views.

Synonyms

(one who controls): administrator, chief, foreman, head, head man, organizer, overseer, superintendent, supervisor
(one who manages financial affairs): comptroller
(device that regulates a machine's operation): driver

Hyponyms

(computing): fuzzy controller, memory controller
(computing, electronics): game controller, microcontroller, nanocontroller
(software architecture): model–view–controller

Derived terms

air traffic controller (ATC)
array controller
data controller
flight controller
front controller pattern
microcontroller
nanocontroller
pest controller
programmable logic controller
TCON

Related terms

control
control theory

Translations

person who controls something

Belarusian: кантралёр m (kantraljór)
Bulgarian: контрольо́р (bg) m (kontroljór)
Czech: kontrolor (cs) m, kontrolorka (cs) f, ovladač (cs) m
Finnish: johtaja (fi), päällikkö (fi), valvoja (fi)
French: contrôleur (fr) m, contrôleuse (fr) f
German: Kontrolleur (de) m, Aufseher (de) m
Greek: ελεγκτής (el) m (elegktís)
Irish: stiúrthóir m
Italian: controllore (it) m
Latin: moderātor m, moderātrix f
Macedonian: контроло́р m (kontrolór)
Maori: kaiwhakahaere
Polish: kontroler (pl) m
Portuguese: controlador (pt) m
Romanian: controlor (ro) m, controloare (ro) f
Russian: контролёр (ru) m (kontroljór)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: контро̀ло̄р m
Roman: kontròlōr (sh) m
Slovak: kontrolór m, kontrolórka f, ovládač m
Slovene: krmilnik m
Spanish: controlador (es) m, controladora (es) f
Swedish: kontrollant (sv) c
Ukrainian: контроле́р m (kontrolér)

electronics: device for controlling

Esperanto: adaptilo (eo)

the chief accountant of a company or government

Finnish: kirjanpitopäällikkö, talouspäällikkö, controller (fi), pääkirjanpitäjä (fi), varainhoitaja
French: manette (fr) f, contrôleur (fr)
German: Controller (de), Rechnungsprüfer m, Buchprüfer m
Greek: διευθυντής (el) m (diefthyntís)
Ido: chefkontrolisto (io)
Irish: ard-reachtaire m
Italian: controllore (it), revisore (it) m
Polish: kontroler (pl) m, rewident m
Portuguese: auditor (pt) m, tesoureiro (pt) m
Romanian: controlor (ro) m, revizor (ro) m
Russian: контро́ллер (ru) m (kontróller)
Spanish: controlador (es), contralor, director administrativo m, director financiero m, interventor m
Swedish: controller (sv) c, styrekonom (sv)

computer hardware: mechanism that controls or regulates the operation of a machine

Czech: řadič m
Finnish: ajuri
French: ^{(please verify)} contrôleur (fr)
German: Controller (de) m, Steuerung (de) f, Regler (de) m
Greek: ελεγκτής (el) m (elegktís)
Italian: controllo (it) m
Maori: pūwhakamana
Polish: kontroler (pl) m
Portuguese: controlador (pt) m, controle (pt) m (Brazil)
Romanian: controler (ro) n, controlor (ro) n
Russian: контро́ллер (ru) m (kontróller)
Scottish Gaelic: rianadair m
Swedish: reglage (sv) n

video games: hardware device designed to allow the user to play video games

Dutch: controller (nl) m
Finnish: peliohjain (fi), pad-ohjain, padi (fi)
French: manette (fr) f, manette de jeu (fr) f
Galician: mando m
German: Controller (de) m
Italian: controller (it) m
Marathi: जॉय्पॅड m (jŏypĕḍ)
Polish: kontroler (pl) m
Portuguese: comando (pt) m (Portugal), controle (pt) m (Brasil)
Romanian: controler (ro) n
Spanish: control (es) m (Latin America), mando (es) m (Spain)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} בקר‎ (he) m
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} controlador (es)

References

controller on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English controller.

Noun

controller c (singular definite controlleren, plural indefinite controllere or controllers)

(business) A person who audits, and manages the financial affairs of a company or government, a comptroller, a controller.
(computing) A mechanism that controls or regulates the operation of a machine, especially a peripheral device in a computer, a controller.

Inflection

Declension of controller

common gender	Singular		Plural
common gender	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	controller	controlleren	controllere controllers	controllerne
genitive	controllers	controllerens	controlleres controllers'	controllernes

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English controller.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌkɔnˈtrɔ.lər/
Hyphenation: con‧trol‧ler
Rhymes: -ɔlər

Noun

controller m (plural controllers, diminutive controllertje n)

(video games) controller
(business) controller (a person who audits, and manages the financial affairs of a company or government)