- control
- early 14c., "to check, verify, regulate," from Anglo-Norm. contreroller "exert authority," from M.L. contrarotulus "a counter, register," from L. contra- "against" (see contra) + rotulus, dim. of rota "wheel" (see roll). From a medieval method of checking accounts by a duplicate register. Sense of "dominate, direct" is c.1450. Related: Controllable (1570s); controlled (1580s; of rent, from c.1930); controlling (1520s). Control group in scientific experiments is attested from 1952 (from a sense of control attested since 1875). Control freak is late 1960s slang.