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Controller vs Adapter - What's the difference?

controller | adapter |

As nouns the difference between controller and adapter

is that controller is one who controls something while adapter is one who is capable of adapting well to differing situations.

controller

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • One who controls something.
  • * (rfdate) (Dryden)
  • The great controller of our fate / Deigned to be man, and lived in low estate.
  • (business) A person who audits, and manages the financial affairs of a company or government; a comptroller.
  • (computing) A mechanism that controls or regulates the operation of a machine, especially a peripheral device in a computer.
  • (nautical) An iron block, usually bolted to a ship's deck, for controlling the running out of a chain cable. The links of the cable tend to drop into hollows in the block, and thus hold fast until disengaged.
  • Synonyms

    * administrator * foreman * chief, head, head man * comptroller * overseer * organizer * superintendent * supervisor

    Derived terms

    * memory controller * microcontroller

    adapter

    Alternative forms

    * (l)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One who is capable of adapting well to differing situations.
  • He was an able adapter , and could easily adjust to the differences when the company changed ownership.
  • One who adapts a thing, e.g. a play.
  • The critic gave rave reviews to the adapter of the ancient play, who worked to give the text more relevance to the modern day.
  • A device or application used to achieve operative compatibility between devices that otherwise are incompatible.
  • He had an adapter that let him plug his phone into the car's cigarette lighter for power.
  • * '>citation
  • # Specifically, a device that permits two, three, or more plugs to be used at a single electrical power point.
  • The wall outlet sprouted an electrical monstrosity of adapters''' plugged into '''adapters that sparked ominously.
  • # Specifically, a device that allows one format of plug to be used with a different format of socket.
  • We bought adapters to use our three-prong plugs in the two-prong, unpolarized outlets of the old house.
  • # Specifically, an AC-adaptor: a device that reduces voltage and converts AC to DC to allow a battery-powered device to use mains power.
  • I lost my cellphone's adaptor so I couldn't recharge it.
  • Derived terms

    * AC adapter * power adapter

    Anagrams

    * ----