comptroller en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From late Middle English compteroller, a spelling variant of countreroller (from which controller) due to folk etymology: the word was thought to have an etymological connection with Middle French compte (“account”) (Middle French compteroleur is attested circa 1375). Originally the two spellings were equivalent and pronounced identically; the modern pronunciation with [mp] is based on the spelling.
Meanings
-
The chief accountant of a company or government.
So the Comptroller and I thence to a tavern hard by, and there did agree upon drawing up some letters to be sent to all the pursers and Clerks of the Cheques to make up their accounts.
1660 February 23 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “February 14th, 1659–1660”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume I, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, →OCLC, page 339:The terms of the licence shall, in default of agreement, be settled by the comptroller.
1988, Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, section 237
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| comptrollers | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
comptroll · controller · comptrol
Synonyms
controller · head · supervisor · administrator · organiser · chief · overseer · superintendent · head man · organizer · foreman