controller
nounUK /kənˈtɹəʊlə/ · US /kənˈtɹoʊlɚ/
Etymology From Middle English countreroller, from Anglo-Norman contreroulour and Middle French contreroleur (French contrôleur), from Medieval Latin contrārotulātor, from *contrārotulāre (from which control). Doublet of comptroller. By surface analysis, control + -er.
9 senses
- 1One who controls something.
- 2Any electric or mechanical device for controlling a…
- 3The chief accounting officer which audits, and manages…
- 4A mechanism that controls or regulates the operation of…
- 5A hardware device designed to allow the user to play video games.
- 6An iron block, usually bolted to a ship's deck, for…
- 7The person who supervises and handles communication with…
- 8The subject of a control verb. See Control (linguistics)
- 9In software applications using the model-view-controller…
One who controls something.
- The great controller of our fate / Deigned to be man, and lived in low estate.1700, John Dryden, transl., The Wife of Bath, Her Tale:
Business, Electrical engineering, Electricity, Electromagnetism, Electronics, Energy, Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics Any electric or mechanical device for controlling a circuit or system.
- Nothing more can be squeezed out of the motive power unit once the master controller has been moved to full on.1963 February, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Modern Railways, page 115:
Business The chief accounting officer which audits, and manages the financial affairs of a company or government; a comptroller.
Computer hardware, Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences 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.
- 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?1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
Espionage, Government, Military, Politics, War The person who supervises and handles communication with an agent in the field.
Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences The subject of a control verb. See Control (linguistics)
- 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.2004, Paul K. Kroeger, Analyzing Syntax: A Lexical-Functional Approach, Cambridge University Press (hardback) (paperback), chapter 5.4, 117
Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences, Software 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
- administrator, chief, foreman, head, head man, organizer, overseer, superintendent, supervisor, comptroller, driver
- Derived terms
- air traffic controller, array controller, bread-controller, controllerless, controllership, data controller, flight controller, front controller pattern, microcontroller, motion controller, nanocontroller, network interface controller, overcontroller, pest controller, programmable logic controller, servocontroller, subcontroller, TCON, telecontroller, thermocontroller, turbo controller, undercontroller, video game controller
- Related terms
- control, control theory
- Hyponyms
- fuzzy controller, memory controller, game controller, microcontroller, nanocontroller, model–view–controller