English
rote
Rote may come from Middle English rote ‘custom, habit, wont, condition, state’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rote‘custom, habit, wont, condition, state’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1744same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500rote‘custom, habit, wont, condition, state’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1744same form
Earliest quotation: 1744, Zachary Grey, Hudibras: “The Model of it was, That a third Part…”
The story
Some have proposed a relationship either with Old French rote/rute (‘route’), or Latin rota (‘wheel’) (see rotary), but the OED calls both suggestions groundless. Another explanation might be the metaphorical comparison between anything repetitive and playing the rote.
Linked words
through Middle English rote ‘custom, habit, wont, condition, state’
Another origin of rote
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400rote
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishtodaysame form
From Middle English rote, from Old French rote, probably of German origin; compare Middle High German rotte, and English crowd (‘a kind of violin’).
Today it means
noun Mechanical routine; a fixed, habitual, repetitive, or mechanical course of procedure.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English rote / rote