roll

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /rəʊl/, US /roʊl/^[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English rolle (“scroll, list”),^[2][3] borrowed from Old French rolle (“document, parchment scroll”),^[4][2] from Medieval Latin rotulus (“a roll of paper”),^[4][5] from Latin rotula (“small wheel”),^[4][2] a diminutive of rota (“wheel”).^[4][2] The verb is from Old French roller, from Vulgar Latin *rotulāre.^[2][3][5] Latin rota is cognate with Old Irish roth and German Rad “wheel”.^[2][3] It is related to role, which first meant the roll of paper on which an actor's part was written,^[6] and to rotary and enrol.^[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A rolled-up piece of parchment or paper, a scroll: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,^[2] about 1200 in Etymonline, and before 1225 in the OED.^[4][7] The verb, “to turn over and over”, is from about 1300.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

A scroll with an official record is from 1377,^[7] and a register or list from the late 14th century, as in roll call (1779).^[4][7][2] A quantity of material rolled up is also from the late 14th century,^[4] and a small piece of dough rolled before baking from the mid-15th century.^[4][2] Paper money in a roll is from 1846.^[4] Of the verb, moving the eyes is from the late 14th century,^[4] travelling on wheels from the 1510s,^[4] the sound of thunder from 1598^[2] or the 1590s,^[4] and a drum roll from the 1680s.^[4] The noun roll, “act of rolling”, is from 1743,^[4][2] and a throw of dice by 1926.^[4] Australian roll up, “to gather”, is from 1861,^[4] roll with the punches is a boxing metaphor from 1940,^[4][6] and on a roll, “enjoying a run of success”, is by 1976.^[4] The proverb about a rolling stone has existed in various languages since at least the 15th century.^[6] Roller is from 1295, and roller coaster from 1888.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1200 – a scroll.^[2]
• c. 1300 – verb, to turn over and over.^[2][4]
• late 14th century – a list or register.^[4]
• mid-15th century – a bread roll.^[4][2]
• 1598 – of thunder.^[2]
• 1743 – noun, an act of rolling.^[4][2]
• 1779 – roll call.^[2]
• 1846 – a roll of banknotes.^[4]
• 1976 – on a roll.^[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To move by turning over and over, or on wheels.
2. To wrap or form into a ball or cylinder.
3. To flatten with a roller: to roll pastry.
4. Of a ship, to sway from side to side.
5. To make a deep, prolonged sound, as of thunder.
6. To throw dice.
7. To pronounce with a trill: to roll one's r's.

Noun

1. Something rolled up into a cylinder: a roll of film.
2. A small rounded loaf of bread.
3. An official list of names; a register.
4. A rolling movement, as of a ship.
5. A deep, prolonged sound: a drum roll.

Word family

• rollable
• roller
• rollout
• roll-on
• roll-your-own
• reroll
• rollaway

Related words

• role
• rotary
• rotate
• enrol
• control
• roulette
• rodeo

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 l m n o p q r s Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press