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controller

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The definition of a controller is a person in charge, especially the main accounting officer in a business.

(noun)

An example of a controller is the director of a learning center.

See controller in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

the chief accounting officer with responsibility for internal auditing, as in a business, government (usually sp. comptroller), or institution
a person or device that controls

Origin: ME countrollour < Anglo-Fr contrerollour < OFr contreroller: see control

Related Forms:

controllership noun

See controller in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

One that controls: a controller, not an observer of events.
also comp·trol·ler (kən-trōˈlər, kŏmp-trōˈ-, kŏmpˈtrōˌ-) An officer who audits accounts and supervises the financial affairs of a corporation or of a governmental body.
A regulating mechanism, as in a vehicle or electric device.

Related Forms:

con·trolˈler·shipˈ noun

Usage Note: In the 15th century, the word controller developed the alternate spelling comptroller as a result of an association between the first part of the word, cont, and the etymologically unrelated word count and its variant compt. Although the historical pronunciation of comptroller would be the same as for controller, evidence suggests that the spelling pronunciations (kŏmp-trōˈlər) and (kŏmpˈtrōˌlər) may now be used by a majority of speakers. In a recent survey, 43 percent of the Usage Panel indicated that they pronounce comptroller like controller, while 57 percent pronounce it with mp, as it is spelled, with stress on either the first or second syllable. And half of those Panelists who pronounce comptroller like controller indicated that they also consider the spelling pronunciations acceptable.

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