Telecontrol

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Operation of a machine or device from a distance by means of signals ; a system of electronic links used to run equipment located far away
2. Control exercised over an apparatus at a distance without direct contact ; an arrangement of transmitters and receivers that manages remote machinery
3. The guiding of a mechanism from afar using radio or wire signals ; the set of signalling apparatus that allows distant equipment to be governed

Etymology: Telecontrol is a plain compound: "tele-", from Greek "tēle", meaning "far off" or "at a distance", joined to "control". The result describes the remote operation of a machine or system from a distance, and the sense of "far" in the first half is the same one found in "telephone" and "television". The "tele-" prefix became productive in English in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when inventors and engineers needed names for devices and techniques that worked across distance. Telecontrol followed the same pattern, pairing the Greek element with an everyday English word to name a new kind of operation, rather than inheriting anything from an older term.

Synonyms: remote control, remote