rooster

Forms

rooster n or m (plural roosters, diminutive roostertje n)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle Dutch roostre, formed from Middle Dutch roosten + -er, the verb meaning “to roast” (first recorded about 1240).^[2][3][1] The verb is derived from the noun roost (“iron grate; fire; roasted food”), recorded later.^[2][4][5]

The noun has cognates in Old Saxon rōst (“grate”), Middle Low German rōst and Old High German rōst (“grate, pyre”) (modern German Rost), from Proto-Germanic *raust-.^[2] The verb has cognates in Middle Low German rōsten and Old High German rōstan (modern German rösten); Old French rostir (modern French rôtir), the source of English roast, was taken from Frankish *raustjan.^[2][4]

The further origin is unclear.^[2] If the first sense was “wickerwork”, the word may be related to Germanic words for a woven fish trap, such as Old High German rūsa (modern German Reuse), whose origin is unknown too.^[2][6][7] Another explanation from a sound-imitating root “to crackle” is thought unlikely by Franck–Van Wijk.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Middle Dutch roestre first appears around 1240 in a Limburg glossary, translating Latin crates and craticula, a gridiron.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle Dutch the gridiron was the instrument of the martyrdom of Saint Laurence, who was roasted op din rostere.^[2][9] By 1373 the word also meant an iron grating, such as the one over a dug-out pit in a churchyard wall; standing voor den rooster marked the place where the secular court had jurisdiction.^[2][9] At sea it meant laths nailed crosswise over the hatches to let in air.^[10]

From the cooking sense came heet van de rooster “hot from the grill”, that is, straight away or in a rush, recorded from 1613.^[3] In 1740 a rooster is a framework of joined beams, and in 1824 a table with crossing lines in which each person's turn is written: the schedule sense, which grew from the grid of lines on the paper.^[2][11] Rooster van aftreding “rotation of retirement” follows in 1851.^[2] The verb roosteren is derived from the noun and is recorded from 1729.^[6][3]

English borrowed the schedule sense as roster, in military use from 1727.^[2][4][11] The word also passed into Indonesian and Papiamentu roster for a timetable or grid.^[12][1]

Timeline

• c. 1240 – Middle Dutch roestre “gridiron” is first recorded, in Limburg.^[8][2][13]
• 1290–1310 – Saint Laurence is said to lie on the rostere.^[2]
• 1373 – The sense “iron grating” is recorded.^[2]
• 1613 – Heet van de rooster appears.^[3]
• 1727 – English roster is borrowed in the sense of a duty list.^[2][11]
• 1729 – The verb roosteren is recorded.^[6]
• 1740 – Rooster is used of a framework of beams.^[2]
• 1824 – The sense “table of turns, schedule” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A grate, grid: a framework of parallel or crossing bars, for instance one for grilling food: Leg de vis op de rooster.^[14][1][3]
2. A timetable, roster, a fixed schedule of tasks or lessons: Het nieuwe rooster hangt in de gang.^[14][1]
3. A wooden floor on driven piles.^[14]
4. (crystallography) A lattice.^[1][15]

Word family

• roosteren
• broodrooster
• dienstrooster
• lesrooster
• tropenrooster
• uurrooster
• veerooster
• wildrooster
• roosterwerk

Related words

• roosten
• English roster
• German Rost

Usage notes

Iemand op de rooster leggen means to question someone sharply.^[14] The word is both de and het; a dialect form reuster is found in the east of the Netherlands.^[14][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; Sijs, Nicoline van der (2003–2009), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, 4 vols., Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; online via etymologiebank.nl
3. ^ a b c d e f Vries, Matthias de; Winkel, L. A. te, et al. (1882–1998), Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, 29 vols., 's-Gravenhage / Leiden: Nijhoff / Sijthoff / SDU; supplement 2001; gtb.ivdnt.org
4. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de (1971), Nederlands etymologisch woordenboek, Leiden: Brill
5. ^ Franck, Johannes; Wijk, Nicolaas van (1912), Franck's Etymologisch woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal, 2nd ed., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff
6. ^ a b c Vries, Jan de; Tollenaere, Félicien de (2004), Etymologisch woordenboek: onze woorden, hun oorsprong en ontwikkeling, 23rd ed., Utrecht: Het Spectrum, p. 316
7. ^ Veen, P. A. F. van; Sijs, Nicoline van der (1997), Etymologisch woordenboek: de herkomst van onze woorden, 2nd ed., Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Lexicografie
8. ^ a b Pijnenburg, W. J. J., et al. (2001), Vroegmiddelnederlands woordenboek: woordenboek van het Nederlands van de dertiende eeuw in hoofdzaak op basis van het Corpus-Gysseling, Leiden: Instituut voor Nederlandse Lexicologie; gtb.ivdnt.org
9. ^ a b Verwijs, Eelco; Verdam, Jacob (1885–1929), Middelnederlandsch woordenboek, 11 vols., 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff; gtb.ivdnt.org
10. ^ Winschoten, Wigardus à (1681), Seeman: behelsende een grondige uitlegging van de Neederlandse konst- en spreekwoorden, voor soo veel die uit de seevaart sijn ontleend, Leiden
11. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2010), Nederlandse woorden wereldwijd, Den Haag: Sdu; with additions from the Uitleenwoordenbank (2015)
13. ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2001), Chronologisch woordenboek: de ouderdom en herkomst van onze woorden en betekenissen, Amsterdam / Antwerpen: Veen
14. ^ a b c d e Van Dale Groot woordenboek hedendaags Nederlands (2014), Utrecht / Antwerpen: Van Dale Uitgevers
15. ^ WikiWoordenboek (Dutch Wiktionary), nl.wiktionary.org