Etymologically
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rôle

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Pronunciation

Forms

rôle m (plural rôles)[1] Rolle (about 1180), role (13th century), roole, roolle (14th–16th centuries, also rosle, roulle); rôle from 1550 (Du Bellay), usual from the 17th century.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin rotulus (“roll; rolled parchment”),[3][2][4][5] rare in Late Latin as “rotulus” “little wheel”, a diminutive of Latin rota (“wheel”) (see roue).[2][4] The TLFi takes it from the Medieval Latin form “rollus” (1105).[3] In Medieval Latin it was a rolled sheet bearing a text (about 751) and, in administration and law, a register or list.[2] The circumflex comes from the 16th-century spelling “roole”.[4][3]

Italian ruolo (“list”) and Spanish rol are from French.[2][4] English role was taken about 1600.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Mort Aymeri de Narbonne (about 1180) has rolle for a rolled parchment bearing writing;[3][7] the Saisnes already uses it figuratively: servoit au role d'escuier, he served in the capacity of a squire.[8][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century it meant a list, then a register of deeds (about 1390), the sheet of a notarial deed (1690) and the tax roll of a commune;[3][2] in 1454 it was the list of cases to be pleaded before a court, whence à son tour de rolle and the everyday à tour de rôle “in turn” (1636, à tour de roulle, Coquillart, 1478–1480).[3][2] The rôle d'équipage (1728) lists a ship's crew.[3][2]

In the theatre rôle was the part an actor learned from a roll: the character played (1538) and the lines to be spoken (1580, Montaigne).[3][2] Hence jouer son rôle (Ronsard, about 1550) and jouer un grand rôle (Académie, 1694), and the function of a person or thing within a whole.[2][3] The concrete “roll” survived only in trades, such as a twist of chewing tobacco (1681).[3][4]

Timeline

  • 751 – Medieval Latin rotulus “written roll”.[2]
  • c. 1180 – Rolle “roll of parchment”.[3]
  • 13th century – “List”.[3]
  • 1454 – The list of cases at court, à son tour de rolle.[2]
  • 1538 – A character in a play.[3]
  • 1580 – An actor's lines, in Montaigne.[3]
  • c. 1600 – English role.[6]
  • 1636 – À tour de rôle.[2]
  • 1681 – A roll of tobacco.[3]
  • 1728 – Rôle d'équipage.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A part, role (in a play, a film): jouer le rôle d'Hamlet, premier rôle: lead.[9][1]
  2. A function, part (of a person or thing): jouer un rôle important, ce n'est pas mon rôle.[9][2]
  3. À tour de rôle: in turn.[9][2]
  4. (law, administration) A roll, register: the list of cases before a court, rôle d'équipage; a tax roll.[9][10]
  5. (dated) A roll of chewing tobacco.[3][8]

Word family

  • enrôler
  • rôlet
  • enrôler
  • jeu de rôle

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 512b
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)