control.
To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.
Meaning & usage
To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.
With a simple remote, he could control the toy truck.
(construed with for) To design (an experiment) so that the effects of one or more variables are reduced or eliminated.
To verify the accuracy of (something or someone, especially a financial account) by comparison with another account.
To call to account, to take to task, to challenge.
To hold in check, to curb, to restrain.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English controllen, from Old French contrerole, from Medieval Latin contrārotulus (“a counter-roll or register used to verify accounts”), from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”) + Medieval Latin rotulus, Latin rotula (“roll, a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”). Partly displaced native Old English wealdan and Old English wieldan, whence their merged reflex English wield.
An influence or authority over something.
The government has complete control over the situation.
The method and means of governing the performance of any apparatus, machine or system, such as a lever, handle or button.
Restraint or ability to contain one's movements or emotions, or self-control.
A security mechanism, policy, or procedure that can counter system attack, reduce risks, and resolve vulnerabilities; a safeguard or countermeasure.
A means of monitoring for, and triggering intervention in, activities that are not going according to plan.
A control group or control experiment.
A duplicate book, register, or account, kept to correct or check another account or register.
An interface element that a computer user interacts with, such as a window or a text box.
Any of the physical factors determining the climate of a place, such as latitude, distribution of land and water, altitude, exposure, prevailing winds, permanent high- or low-barometric-pressure areas, ocean currents, mountain barriers, soil, and vegetation.
A construction in which the understood subject of a given predicate is determined by an expression in context. See control.
A spirit that takes possession of a psychic or medium and allows other spirits to communicate with the living.
A checkpoint along an audax route.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English controllen, from Old French contrerole, from Medieval Latin contrārotulus (“a counter-roll or register used to verify accounts”), from Latin contrā (“against, opposite”) + Medieval Latin rotulus, Latin rotula (“roll, a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”). Partly displaced native Old English wealdan and Old English wieldan, whence their merged reflex English wield.
Try it on your idea.
control has 7 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.