controller

UK/kənˈtɹəʊlə/US/kənˈtɹoʊlɚ/

nounB1+Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,408 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: controllers

A controller is the handheld device used to play a video game. A wireless controller, drop the controller, two controllers.

The modern layout with two thumbsticks and shoulder buttons settled in the 1990s and has barely changed since, which is unusual for any piece of technology. The word also names an official who checks accounts, spelled comptroller in some titles.

Definitions of controller

1nouncontrollerThe handheld device used to play a video game.B1+
“He threw down the controller in frustration after losing the game again.”

controller is a device.

Where it comes from

Middle English countreroller comes from Anglo-Norman, from Medieval Latin contrarotulator, one who keeps a counter-roll, a duplicate record.

Medieval Latin
contrārotulātor
Middle French
contreroleur
Anglo-Norman
contreroulour
Middle English
countreroller
English, today
controller

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Games & Toys

Practise this word

controller in the wild

The PID controller automatically compares the desired target value (setpoint or SP) with the actual value of the system (process variable or PV).
PID controller
The PID controller adjusts the engine's power output to restore the vehicle to its desired speed, doing so efficiently with minimal delay and overshoot.
PID controller
Game controllers may be input devices that only provide input to the system, or input/output devices that receive data from the system and produce a response (e.g.
Game controller
A controller area network (CAN) is a vehicle bus standard designed to enable efficient communication primarily between electronic control units (ECUs).
CAN bus
Early network interface controllers were commonly implemented on expansion cards that plugged into a computer bus.
Network interface controller

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

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