English
roll
Roll comes from Old French roller, from Medieval Latin rotulāre ‘to roll’, from Latin rotula ‘a little wheel’, diminutive of rota ‘wheel’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErota‘wheel’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErotula‘a little wheel’diminutive of rota
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500rotulāre‘to roll; to revolve’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400roller
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rollen
- Englishearliest quotation 1599roll
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErota‘wheel’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CErotula‘a little wheel’diminutive of rota
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500rotulāre‘to roll; to revolve’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400roller
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rollen
- Englishearliest quotation 1599roll
Earliest quotation: 1599, William Shakespeare, The Life of Henry the Fift: “And her foot, look you, is fixed upon a…”
Linked words
through Latin rota ‘a wheel’
rotation, rotary, rodeo, rota, rueda, rotund, 13 more
through Medieval Latin rotulāre ‘to roll’
Another origin of roll
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500rotulus‘a roll, list, catalogue, schedule, record, a paper or parchment rolled up’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rolle
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rolle
- Englishtodayroll
Today it means
verb To revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on a horizontal axis; to impel forward with a revolving motion on a supporting surface.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin rota / roll