CORRECTION:

   Previous post contained etymology from memory. Here's the etymology from Webster's Tenth Edition Collegiate Dictionary:

¹con♦trol  \kυn-^'trΟl\     vt [ME controllen. fr. MF contreroller, fr. contrerolle copy of an account, audit, fr. ML contrarotulus, fr. L contra + ML rotulus roll -- more at ROLL] (15c)

²con♦trol n, often attrib (1590)

   The first definition listed above, the verb, is defined as follows:

1 a archaic: to check, test, or verify by evidence or experiments  b : to to incorporate suitable controls in < a controlled experiment >  2 a : to exercise restraining or directing influence over: REGULATE b : to have power over: RULE c : to reduce the incidence or severity of esp. to innocuous levels < ~ an insect population > < ~ a disease > syn see CONDUCT

   The second definition listed above, the noun, is defined as follows:

1 a : an act or instance of controlling also : power or authority to guide or manage b : skill in the use of a tool, instrument, technique, or artistic medium c : the regulation of economic activity esp. by government directive -- usu. used in pl. < price ~s >  2 : RESTRAINT, RESERVE  3 : one that controls: as a (1) : an experiment in which the subjects are treated as in a parallel experiment except for omission of the procedure or agent under test and which is used as a standard of comparison in judging experimental effects -- called also control experiment  (2) : one (as an organism, culture or group) that is part of a control  b : a device or mechanism used to regulate or guide the operation of a machine, apparatus, or system  c : an organization that directs a spaceflight < mission ~ > d : a personality or spirit believed to actuate the utterances or performances of a spiritualist medium  syn see POWER

   Let us start with the, I suspect, bullshit etymology.

   2nd entry - 1590 - first of shift?

   As  regards the citiation of contra + rotulus (prefix + noun) for a verb: does this happen often? Anyone with more information email me.       

   Now on to the bulshit definitions, starting with #1.

   I see an evolution here, via the order of listings of senses.  "Slipping in" the part about "RULE" under subsection b of sense 2 is not slipping by me. The compensatory sense of sense 2 c  is also a slap in the face.

   Suffice it to say that if the same person wrote both of these, he most likely felt remorse after writing the first, overdoing the second as a kind of messed-up apology. This entire second definition should be condensed to no more than: economic or administrative control, and experimental control (sense 1); and device control (sense 2).

   What are the tests for combining senses? Overlap in usage? More?

   derived meanings: proper and original:

   1) operate, as a machine

   2) administer, as the affairs of a department 

   3) manipulate, as a driven device (transportation device)

begins here