controller

[kuhn-troh-ler]

noun

1. an employee, often an officer, of a business firm who checks expenditures, finances, etc.; comptroller.

2. a person who regulates, directs, or restrains.

3. British Aeronautics.,  a dispatcher.

4. a regulating mechanism; governor.

5. Also called control unit, processor. Computers.,  the key component of a device, as a terminal, printer, or external storage unit, that contains the circuitry necessary to interpret and execute instructions fed into the device.

6. Digital Technology.,  a remote piece of hardware used to direct or control an electronic device.

   a video game controller.

controller

/ kənˈtrəʊlə /

noun

1. a person who directs, regulates, or restrains

2. Also called: comptroller. a business executive or government officer who is responsible for financial planning, control, etc

3. the equipment concerned with controlling the operation of an electrical device

Other Word Forms

• controllership noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of controller¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English countrollour, from Anglo-French countrero(u)llour, Middle French contrerolleur, equivalent to contrerolle “duplicate roll” + -eur, -our, from Latin -ōr- or -ātōr- noun suffixes; control, -or ², -ator

Example Sentences

Air traffic control audio obtained by the BBC recorded controllers urgently and repeatedly telling the Spirit Airbus A321 to keep its distance.

From BBC

Betty Yee, the former state controller, just finished a campaign swing through rural California, where, she said, voters asked similar questions along the lines of what about us?

From Los Angeles Times

Mejia, a young leftist who electrified the typically staid race for controller in 2022, announced his own reelection bid earlier this month.

From Los Angeles Times

One read “Up arrow, right arrow, and three down arrow symbols,” a possible reference to commands entered on a controller that call in a bomb in the video game “Helldivers.”

From Salon

Drivers, engineers and controllers on about 60 routes in north-west and south-west London had been due to strike from 05:00 BST on Friday 12 September until the evening of Sunday 14 September.

From BBC

Related Words

• authority 
• bureaucrat 
• chief 
• commander 
• custodian 
• dean 
• director 
• executive 
• head 
• inspector 
• judge 
• leader 
• manager 
• minister 
• officer 
• official 
• organizer 
• superintendent 
• supervisor