role

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /rəʊl/, US /roʊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French rôle (“part played by a person”),^[2][3] literally “roll”, the roll of paper on which an actor's part was written,^[2][4][5] from Old French rolle (“roll of parchment”),^[2][4] from Late Latin rotulus or Latin rotula,^[6][4] a diminutive of rota (“wheel”).^[4][6] It is the same word as roll.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A part or character one takes on: 1606, in the form rowle,^[3][8][4] or 1605 in Merriam-Webster.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that the word came from French already with the sense “a part one has to play”, so that it was not at first used in English of the stage directly but figuratively.^[4][2] The French spelling rôle does not appear before 1790–91.^[3] A characteristic function performed by someone or something is by 1875,^[2][8] and the social-psychology sense, the behaviour expected of a person in a position, from 1913.^[2][8] Role model is by 1957.^[2]

Timeline

• 1606 – rowle, a part to play.^[3][8]
• 1790–91 – the spelling rôle.^[3]
• 1875 – a characteristic function.^[2][8]
• 1913 – in social psychology.^[2][8]
• 1957 – role model.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A character or part played by an actor.
2. The expected social behaviour of a person in a given position.
3. A function or position: the role of the press.

Word family

• multirole
• role-play
• role-playing
• gender role
• role conflict
• role model
• role-playing game
• title role

Related words

• roll
• rotate
• rota
• control
• rouleau

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster