Controller

[kuh n-troh-ler] /kənˈtroʊ lər/

noun
1.
an employee, often an officer, of a business firm who checks expenditures, finances, etc.; comptroller.
2.
a person who regulates, directs, or restrains.
3.
British Aeronautics. a dispatcher.
4.
a regulating mechanism; governor.
5.
Also called control unit, processor. Computers. the key component of a device, as a terminal, printer, or external storage unit, that contains the circuitry necessary to interpret and execute instructions fed into the device.
6.
a remote piece of hardware used to direct or control an electronic device:
a video-game controller.
/kənˈtrəʊlə/
noun
1.
a person who directs, regulates, or restrains
2.
Also called comptroller. a business executive or government officer who is responsible for financial planning, control, etc
3.
the equipment concerned with controlling the operation of an electrical device
n.

late 14c., from Anglo-French contrerolleour (late 13c.), Old French contrerelleor (Modern French contrôleur), from Medieval Latin contrarotulator, agent noun from *contra-rotulare (see control (v.)). Mechanical sense is from 1867.
hardware
Part of a computer, typically a separate circuit board, which allows the computer to use certain kinds of peripheral devices. A disk controller is used to connect hard disks and floppy disks, a network controller is used for Ethernet. Other controllers are: keyboard controller, interrupt controller and graphics controller.
(1998-03-16)