Etymologically
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rotate

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ɹəʊˈteɪt/, /ɹəˈteɪt/[1]
  • US: /ˈɹoʊ.teɪt/[1]

Etymology

The verb is borrowed from Latin rotātus, the past participle of rotō (“to cause to spin, revolve, whirl round”),[2][3][4][5][6] from rota (“wheel”),[2][6][3][7] with the English suffix -ate.[2][4] The OED suggests that it may have been formed after rotation,[2] and Etymonline and Barnhart take it as a back-formation from that noun.[8][9][10] The American Heritage Dictionary traces the Latin noun to the Indo-European root Proto-Indo-European *ret- (“to run, roll”).[6] The botanical adjective meaning wheel-shaped comes from rotatus, recorded in post-classical Latin by 1700, also from the Latin word for wheel with the suffix -ātus.[2][11][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a thing, to turn about a centre or an axis inside it: 1757, in a translation of the Marquis d'Argens's “Philosophical Visions”.[2][3] Earlier still, the past participle was used in English in the sense "revolved", in G. Ripley's “Compend of Alchemy” (before 1500), a use the OED marks as obsolete.[2]

Semantic evolution

The first dates differ: the OED and Merriam-Webster record the verb from 1757,[2][3] Etymonline from 1794,[8] Barnhart from 1808,[9][10] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1800–10.[4] The Shorter Oxford puts it in the late 17th century, earliest in the participle rotating.[11] The transitive use, to make a thing spin, followed in 1777,[2] and Etymonline finds it by 1823.[8] From the idea of a regular cycle, as in rotation of office, the verb came to mean moving people or things into and out of a position in turn (1800), and of people, taking turns (1841).[2] In farming it was used of crops grown in rotation from 1836,[2] and in the US army from 1944 of recalling a soldier or unit from combat or overseas service.[2][11] The botanical adjective, describing a corolla whose petals spread out like the spokes of a wheel, is recorded from 1760.[2][3][11]

Timeline

  • 1757 – to turn about a centre or axis.[2][3]
  • 1760 – adjective, wheel-shaped, of a corolla.[2][3]
  • 1777 – transitive, to cause a thing to turn.[2]
  • 1800 – to move people or things into and out of a position in turn.[2]
  • 1836 – of crops, to grow in rotation.[2]
  • 1841 – of people, to take turns in a post or task.[2]
  • 1944 – US military, to recall from combat or overseas duty.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To turn, or make something turn, around an axis or centre; to revolve or spin: The turbine blades rotate faster as the wind rises.[12][3][2]
  2. To follow, or make something follow, a fixed order or sequence; to alternate.[12][3]
  3. Of an office or presidency, to pass in turn from one party to the next.[12][11]
  4. Of staff, to replace or be replaced in turn; to move people into and out of a post on a regular basis.[12][2]
  5. To grow different crops in succession on the same land; to move the tyres of a vehicle to spread the wear.[11][2]
  6. (US, military) To recall a soldier or unit from combat or overseas service to a home base.[2][11]

Adjective

  1. (botany) Wheel-shaped; of a corolla, having the petals spread out flat like the spokes of a wheel.[12][3][2][11]

Word family

  • rotatable
  • rotatably
  • circumrotate
  • corotate
  • rotator
  • rotation

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  10. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins