English
control
Control comes from Middle English controllen ‘to restrain or keep in check’, from Middle French contreroller ‘to check against a duplicate account’, from Medieval Latin contrarotulare.
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500contrarotulare1
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600contreroller1‘check against a duplicate account’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500controllen1‘to restrain or keep in check’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512control1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English control
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “I fortuned to come in, Thys rebell to behold,…”.
Lineage
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500contrarotulareWiktionary, English control
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600contrerollerWiktionary, English control‘check against a duplicate account’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500controllenWiktionary, English control‘to restrain or keep in check’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512controlWiktionary, English control. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “I fortuned to come in, Thys rebell to behold,…”
A compound of contrā ‘against, opposite’ + rotulus
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘with, along, at’
Proto-Italic *kom ‘with’
Proto-Italic *kom- ‘together’
Proto-Italic *komteros ‘the other of the two who meet, opposite’
Proto-Italic *komterād
Latin contrā ‘against, opposite’
Medieval Latin rotulus
The story
Partly displaced native Old English wealdan and Old English wieldan, whence their merged reflex English wield.
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Today it means
verb To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “control”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Medieval Latin contrarotulare / control