Controlled

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /kənˈtɹəʊld/

Definitions

1. Governed by a specific authority or system
2. Kept under regulation or oversight to limit variation or excess
3. Subject to direction or management by a particular authority or set of rules ; kept within limits to prevent fluctuation or overuse

Etymology: The verb "control" began as an accounting term. Medieval Latin had "contrarotulare," meaning to check one record against a duplicate, and that Latin came from "contrarotulus," a copy of a roll. The roll itself was "rotulus," a scroll, and "contra" meant "against," so the word literally described matching a scroll against its counterpart. Clerks in France adapted this into "contreroller," and English borrowed it as "controllen," meaning to verify an account. For a long time, to control something meant to check it, not to dominate it. The sense of checking gradually broadened into keeping something in order, and eventually into directing it. That shift is why the adjective now describes things held under regulation, such as a controlled substance or a controlled experiment, where the aim is to limit variation rather than merely to audit. Most of the older English word for power over things, "wield," came from Old English "wealdan" and "wieldan," which the newer borrowing partly displaced.

Synonyms: managed, regulated, governed, restrained, supervised

Antonyms: uncontrolled, chaotic, free, unregulated, wild