Latin Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, teachers, and students wanting to discuss the finer points of the Latin language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
What is an appropriate Latin word for a knob that controls something else, such as a volume control knob, a light dimmer, the tuning control on a radio, the temperature control knob on a space heater, etc.?
It doesn't need to be Classical Latin, of course. I figure there must be some precedent in New Latin. Or coin a word in Latin style if you need to. (I suspect that control knobs were in use in Ancient Greece and even earlier, but I don't know.)
One option is bulla, which can be used to refer to a door-knob, as in the below quote from Plautus:
jussine in splendorem dari bullas has foribus nostris? Plautus, As., 2:4:20
It has a range of other, quite different meanings, like "bubble" and even "amulet," but with proper context it should do the trick!
