ruolo Italian · revision 38852

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1528, Marin Sanudo (as rollo)|origins=la rota}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈrwɔ.lo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ruolo''' ''m'' (plural ruoli)^(Wiktionary)

+ Older forms are ''rollo'', used by Marin Sanudo in 1528, and the Venetian ''rolo'' of 1790.^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3297)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|rôle]], from [[la-lat|rotulus|t=little wheel; roll]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word meant a rolled sheet of writing, and so a register or list;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3297) French had the sense of a list from the 12th century.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(DEI|3297) Gabrielli explains the noun as a rolled-up register in which names were written.^(Gabrielli 2020) The Latin noun is a diminutive of [[m|la|rota|t=wheel]].^(Körting 1907)^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ The same French word passed into [[es|rol]] and [[pt|rol]].^(DEI|3297)^(REW 1935) The inherited Italian outcome of the Latin word is [[rotolo]], which kept the older sense of a roll.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935) Devoto notes that the form with ⟨uo⟩ was aligned with native words such as [[suolo]] and [[duolo]].^(Devoto 1968)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The word first came in as a military and naval term: Marin Sanudo uses ''rollo'' in 1528, and in 1555 Lorenzo Gorgieri speaks of those “written in the roll of the soldiers” (''descritti nel ruolo de' soldati'').^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3297) The first sense was thus a list of persons kept for administrative purposes.^(DELI 1999)^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the list of soldiers the word spread to any register of names, such as the membership roll of an academy, and in 1811 Stratico records it for the list of sailors on board a ship.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)^(DEI|3297) In law it became the register of cases in the order in which a court hears them (1872, Tommaseo), and in public administration the roll of permanent staff, so that an employee ''di ruolo'' holds a permanent post.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011) Panzini recorded this sense of the grades of civil servants as a neologism in 1918.^(DEI|3297)

+

+ The theatrical sense, the part an actor plays, appears in 1880 with Tronconi (DEI has a record of 1883).^(DELI 1999)^(DEI|3297) Even earlier, in the 1790s, ''rolo'' and ''ruolo'' were used figuratively for a function or office, and this sense of a role played in events, or of the behaviour expected of a person in a group, is now the most common one.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) The diminutive ''ruolino'' was a military term in 1906, and ''ruolino di marcia'' came to mean a schedule of tasks with their deadlines.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1528 – Marin Sanudo uses the form ''rollo'' for a list of soldiers.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1555 – Lorenzo Gorgieri writes of ''il ruolo de' soldati''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1790 – The figurative sense “function, part” is recorded in Venetian ''rolo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1797 – ''Ruolo'' “function” appears in the ''Notizie del Mondo''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1872 – Tommaseo records the register of court cases.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1880 – Tronconi uses ''ruolo'' for the part of a character.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1906 – The diminutive ''ruolino'' appears as a military term.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * 1955 – ''Ruolino di marcia'' is recorded in the figurative sense of a schedule.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|register]] or list of the persons belonging to an organization, an office or the army: ''È entrato nei ruoli del ministero.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # The permanent staff of an administration, ''di ruolo'' means holding a permanent post: ''Mia sorella è insegnante di ruolo.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(law)'' The register of cases listed in the order in which a court is to hear them.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # ''(taxation)'' The document listing what each taxpayer owes to a public body.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # The [[m|en|part]] an actor plays in a play or film, or that a character has in a story: ''Ha ottenuto il ruolo del cattivo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(sport)'' The position and task of a player in a team.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # [[m|en|role]], function: the part a person or thing plays in an event or a process, and the behaviour expected of someone in a social group.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[ruolino]]

+ * [[arruolare]]

+ * [[arruolamento]]

+ * [[preruolo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rotolo]]

+ * [[fr|rôle]]

+ * [[la|rotulus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Gioco di ruolo'' is a role-playing game, and ''fuori ruolo'' is said of an employee on a temporary assignment outside the permanent staff.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}