Etymograph

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.

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500contrarotulare
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600contreroller‘check against a duplicate account’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500controllen‘to restrain or keep in check’
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512control

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500contrarotulare
  2. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600contreroller‘check against a duplicate account’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500controllen‘to restrain or keep in check’
  4. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512control

Earliest quotation: 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’

The story

Partly displaced native Old English wealdan and Old English wieldan, whence their merged reflex English wield.

Every English word from Medieval Latin contrarotulare

Today it means

verb To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Medieval Latin contrarotulare / control

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