Meanings
plural control characters
- computingA character which does not have a direct visual appearance as a glyph, but rather causes some other action to occur, such as a transition to a new line.
The tab, carriage return, and line feed are all control characters.
1 more example
To display raw control characters in text, but try to keep the screen appearance, use less with the -R option. This displays raw control characters, but any disparities that may be caused by the control characters on the screen are controlled, whenever possible.
2004, Michael Stutz, The Linux Cookbook: Tips and Techniques for Everyday Use, 2nd edition, No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 215Synonyms: non-printable character, non-printing character
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA character which does not have a direct visual appearance as a glyph, but rather causes some other action to occur, such as a transition to a new line.
More synonyms by meaning
nounASCII characters to indicate carriage return or tab or backspace; typed by depressing a key and the control key at the same time
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Arabic شَخْص
- شَخْص (šaḵṣ)computing character
Czech řídící znak
- řídící znakcomputing character
Esperanto stirsigno, regsigno
- stirsignocomputing character
- regsignocomputing character
- signalocomputing character
Finnish kontrollimerkki
- kontrollimerkkicomputing character
German Steuerzeichen
- Steuerzeichencomputing character
Greek χαρακτήρας ελέγχου
- χαρακτήρας ελέγχου (charaktíras elénchou)computing character
Japanese 制御文字
- 制御文字 (seigyo moji)computing character
Polish kod sterujący, znak sterujący
- kod sterującycomputing character
- znak sterującycomputing character
Romanian caracter de control, tastă de control
- caracter de controlcomputing character
- tastă de controlcomputing character
Russian управля́ющий си́мвол
- управля́ющий си́мвол (upravljájuščij símvol)computing character
Spanish carácter de control
- carácter de controlcomputing character
Cite this entry
control character. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/control%20character
“control character.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/control%20character. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “control character,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/control%20character.
Source: control character on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.