rote

See also: Rote, roté, rotę, and Röte

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹəʊt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɹoʊt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊt
• Homophone: wrote

Etymology 1

From Middle English rote (“custom, habit, wont, condition, state”), further origin unknown. Found in the Middle English phrase bi rote (“by heart, according to form, expertly”), c. 1300. 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.

Noun

rote (uncountable)

1. Mechanical routine; a fixed, habitual, repetitive, or mechanical course of procedure.

   The pastoral scenes from those commercials don’t bear too much resemblance to the rote of daily life on a farm.

   He could perform by rote any of his roles in Shakespeare.

Usage notes

• Commonly found in the phrase “by rote” and in attributive use: “rote learning”, “rote memorization”, and so on.
• Often used pejoratively in comparison with “deeper” learning that leads to “understanding”.

Synonyms

• roteness (uncommon)

Derived terms

• rotelike
• rotely

Translations

process of committing to memory

• Bulgarian: наизустяване n (naizustjavane)
• Catalan: aprendre de cor
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 機械學習 / 机械学习 (jīxièxuéxí) (formal), 死記硬背 / 死记硬背 (zh) (sǐjìyìngbèi) (formal), 死讀書 / 死读书 (sǐdúshū) (informal)

• Czech: biflování n, memorování n
• Dutch: herhaling (nl) f
• Esperanto: parkerigado
• Finnish: ulkoa (fi) (by rote)
• French: apprentissage par cœur m
• German: Auswendiglernen n
• Hebrew: שִׁנּוּן (he) m (shinún)
• Hindi: रट्टा m (raṭṭā)
• Hungarian: (rote learning) magolás (hu), bemagolás (hu), biflázás, mechanikus/​gépies/​értelmetlen (be)tanulás
• Japanese: 暗記学習 (あんきがくしゅう, anki-gakushū)
• Persian: طوطی‌واری (tuti-vâri)
• Polish: powtarzanie (pl) n, repetycja f, zapamiętywanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: memorização (pt) f
• Russian: зау́чивание (ru) n (zaúčivanije), зау́чивание наизу́сть n (zaúčivanije naizústʹ), зубрёжка (ru) f (zubrjóžka)
• Spanish: de memoria, de memorieta, memorismo m, memorización f
• Swedish: memorera (sv)
• Telugu: వల్లించు (te) (valliñcu)
• Turkish: ezber (tr)

mechanical routine

• Catalan: rutina f
• Czech: rutina (cs) f
• Dutch: sleur (nl) m
• Finnish: rutiini (fi)
• German: Routine (de) f, Gewohnheit (de) f
• Spanish: rutina (es) f
• Swedish: rutin (sv), slentrian (sv), slentrianmässig (sv)

See also

• drill and kill
• memoriter
• muscle memory

Adjective

rote (comparative more rote, superlative most rote)

1. By repetition or practice.
   • 2000, Ami Klin with Fred R. Volkmar and Sara S. Sparrow, Asperger syndrome, page 316:

     The former may be seen as a more rote form of learning, contrasting with the latter which appears to include "executive" aspects

Translations

Translations

• Spanish: memorístico m, memorista

Verb

rote (third-person singular simple present rotes, present participle roting, simple past and past participle roted)

1. (obsolete) To go out by rotation or succession; to rotate.
   • 1744, Zachary Grey, ann., Hudibras, in Three Parts, Written in the Time of the Late Wars: Corrected and Amended. With Large Annotations, and a Preface, by Zachary Grey, LL.D., vol. 2. Dublin: […] Robert Owen […] and William Brien […]. page 92:

     The Model of it was, That a third Part of the Senate or Parliament, ſhould rote out by Ballot every Year; […].

2. (transitive) To learn or repeat by rote.

   [Volumnia to Corolianus] "Because that it lies you on to speak/ to th' people, not by your own instruction,/ Nor by th' matter which your heart prompts you,/ But with such words that are but roted in/ your tongue,..." Coriolanus III.ii.52-55

Etymology 2

From Old Norse rót n (“tossing, pitching (of sea)”), perhaps related to rauta (“to roar”); see hrjóta. Compare Middle English routen (“to roar, bellow, storm, rage, howl”).

Noun

rote (uncountable)

1. (rare) The roar of the surf; the sound of waves breaking on the shore. [from c. 1600]

Translations

roar of the surf

• Bulgarian: шум на прибоя (šum na priboja)
• Czech: hřmění příboje n
• Dutch: breken (nl)
• Finnish: (aaltojen) pauhu
• Swedish: brus (sv), dån (sv)

Etymology 3

From Middle English rote, from Old French rote, probably of German origin; compare Middle High German rotte, and English crowd (“a kind of violin”).

Noun

rote (plural rotes)

1. (music) A kind of guitar, the notes of which were produced by a small wheel or wheel-like arrangement; an instrument similar to the hurdy-gurdy.
   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:

     extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds, and rotes

2. Synonym of crowd.

References

• “rote”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• tore

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɔt/
• Rhymes: -ɔt

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French rote, Middle High German rotte.

Noun

rote f (plural rotes)

1. rote (musical instrument)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

rote

1. inflection of roter:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “rote”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• ôter, tore

Gallo

Etymology

From Old French rote, from Latin rupta [via].

Noun

rote f (plural rotes)

1. road

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʁoːtə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

rote

1. inflection of rot:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Noun

rote f

1. plural of rota

Anagrams

• -tore, Orte, erto, otre

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Late Old English rōt, rōte, from Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds. Doublet of wort (“plant”). See more at English root.

Alternative forms

• root, roote, rot, rotæ

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈroːt(ə)/

Noun

rote (plural rotes or roten)

2. The root (submerged part of a plant):
   • 1387–1400, [Geoffrey] Chaucer, “Here Bygynneth the Book of the Tales of Caunt́burẏ”, in The Tales of Caunt́bury (Hengwrt Chaucer; Peniarth Manuscript 392D), Aberystwyth, Ceredigion: National Library of Wales, published [c. 1400–1410], →OCLC, folio 2, recto:

     Whan that Auerill w^t his shoures soote / The droghte of march hath ꝑced to the roote / And bathed euery veyne in swich lycour / Of which v̄tu engendred is the flour […]

     When that April, with its sweet showers / Has pierced March's drought to the root / And bathed every vein in fluid such that / with its power, the flower is made […]

   1. A root used as food; a root vegetable or tuber.
   2. A root employed for supposed curative or medical properties.
3. The foundation or base of a protuberance or extension of the body:
   1. The root of the hair; the part of the hair within the scalp.
   2. The root of the tooth; the part of the tooth within the scalp.
   3. The root of a nail; the part of a nail within the skin.
   4. The base or attached part of an organ or bodily member.
   5. The base or attached part of a swelling or boil.
4. Something which generates, creates, or emanates something:
   1. The origin of an abstract quality; that which something originally came from.
      • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Tymothe ·i· 6:10, page 84r; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

        foꝛ þe roote of alle yuelis is coueitiſe / whiche ſummen coueitynge .· erriden fro þe feiþ. / ⁊ biſettiden hem wiþ manye ſoꝛewis

        And the root of all wrongs is covetousness, which some yearned for and strayed from the faith; they've unleashed many sorrows upon themselves.

   2. A wellspring or exemplar of an abstract quality that which something comes from.
   3. The offspring of a certain individual or nation as a progenitor; a lineage or descent.
      • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[2], published c. 1410, Apocalips 5:5, page 119r; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

        ⁊ oon of the eldere men ſeide to me / wepe þou not / lo! a lioun of the lynage of iuda .· þe roote of dauiþ haþ ouercomen to opene þe book · ⁊ to vndoon þe ſeuene ſeelis of it

        And one of the elders said to me: "Don't weep. Look, a lion of the people of Judah and the stock of David has arrived to open the book and undo its seven seals."

5. The foundation of a tall structure (e.g. a trunk, pole, turret)
6. The (or a key) foundational or core condition, essence or portion of something.
7. One who descends from another; a member of an individual's lineage or stock.
   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[3], published c. 1410, Apocalips 22:16, page 118v; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     I iheſus ſente min aungel to witneſſe. to ȝou þeſe þingis in chirchis I am þe roote ⁊ þe kyn of Dauid .· ⁊ þe ſchynynge moꝛewe ſterre

     "I, Jesus, sent my angel to deliver all of you these things in churches. I'm the scion and descendant of David and (I'm) the shining morning star."

8. The base of a peak or mount; the beginning of an elevation.
9. A protuberance resembling or functioning like a root.
10. The most inner, central, or deepest part of something.
11. (rare, astronomy) Data used for astronomical purposes.
12. (rare, mathematics) A mathematical root.

Related terms

• roten (“to root”)
• rotynge (“rooting”)

Descendants

• English: root
  • → Irish: rúta
• Scots: ruit, rute

References

• “rọ̄te, n.(4).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-23.

Etymology 2

Unknown. Sometimes connected to Old French route (“route”) or Latin rota (“wheel”), but OED rejects both comparisons.

Alternative forms

• root, roote

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɔːt(ə)/

Noun

rote (uncountable)

2. Traditional, customary, usual, or habitual behaviour or procedure.

Descendants

• English: rote

References

• “rōte, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-22.

Etymology 3

Triangular psalteries called rote, rotte (both English singular) or rota (Spanish singular). These psalteries were held as harps.

Borrowed from Old French rote, from Latin chrotta, borrowed from a Germanic form such as Old High German hruoza, borrowed itself from a Celtic term deriving from Proto-Celtic *kruttos; compare Welsh crwth. A doublet of crowde.

Alternative forms

• rotte, roote, roowte

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈrɔːt(ə)/

Noun

rote (plural rotys)

2. A musical instrument having strings and similar to a harp.

Descendants

• English: rote
• Scots: rote (rare, obsolete)

References

• “rōte, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-22.

Etymology 4

Verb

rote

1. Alternative form of roten (“to rot”)

Etymology 5

Verb

rote

1. Alternative form of roten (“to root”)

Etymology 6

Adjective

rote

1. Alternative form of roten (“rotten”)

Etymology 7

Noun

rote

1. Alternative form of rot

Neapolitan

Noun

rote

1. plural of rota

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse róta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /roːtə/

Verb

rote (present tense roter, past tense rota or rotet, past participle rota or rotet)

1. to untidy, to make a mess
2. (slang) to fool around (engage in casual or flirtatious sexual acts)

Derived terms

• rotet (or rotete)
• rotehue
• rotekopp

Related terms

• rot

References

• “rote” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse róta.

Alternative forms

• rota (a-infinitive)

Verb

rote (present tense rotar, past tense rota, past participle rota, passive infinitive rotast, present participle rotande, imperative rote/rot)

1. to untidy

Related terms

• rot

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• ròte (alternative spelling)

Noun

rote m (definite singular roten, indefinite plural rotar, definite plural rotane)

1. rot

Related terms

• roten
• rotna, rotne

Etymology 3

From Old Norse roti, from Middle Low German rote from Old French rote, from Medieval Latin rota, rotta, ruta, rutta (“a rout”).

Noun

rote f (definite singular rota, indefinite plural roter or rotor, definite plural rotene or rotone)

1. (pre-2012) alternative form of rode (see there for more.)

References

• “rote” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈroː.te/

Adjective

rōte

1. inflection of rōt:
   1. strong accusative feminine singular
   2. strong instrumental masculine/neuter singular
   3. strong nominative/accusative masculine/feminine plural
   4. weak nominative feminine/neuter singular
   5. weak accusative neuter singular

Old French

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin rupta [via].

Alternative forms

• rute, route

Noun

rote oblique singular, f (oblique plural rotes, nominative singular rote, nominative plural rotes)

1. route, path
2. a particular unit of weight
3. group of armed men on the march
4. hunt, pursuit

Descendants

• French: route
• Gallo: rote
• Norman: route
• → Middle English: route
  • English: route

References

• “rote2”, in DEAF: Dictionnaire Étymologique de l'Ancien Français, Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1968-.

Etymology 2

Of Celtic origin, from Welsh crwth.

Noun

rote oblique singular, f (oblique plural rotes, nominative singular rote, nominative plural rotes)

1. rote (musical instrument)

References

• “rote1”, in DEAF: Dictionnaire Étymologique de l'Ancien Français, Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1968-.

Descendants

• French: rote
• → Portuguese: rota

Portuguese

Verb

rote

1. inflection of rotar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

rote

1. inflection of rotar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

Etymology

Old Swedish rote, from Middle French route, roupte (“disorderly flight of troops”), literally "a breaking off, rupture," from Vulgar Latin *rupta (“a dispersed group”), literally "a broken group," from Latin rupta. Related to English rout.

Noun

rote c

1. a district (of a parish or town, for the purpose of fire fighting, road maintenance, mail forwarding, social care, etc.)
2. a file, a section, a squad, a pair (of soldiers, of aircraft)

   20 rotar

   twenty file

   med utryckta rotar

   four deep

   indelning av rotar!

   squad-number!

Declension

Declension of rote

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	rote	rotes
	definite	roten	rotens
plural	indefinite	rotar	rotars
	definite	rotarna	rotarnas

Related terms

• brandrote
• postrote
• rotechef
• rotehjon
• rotepar

See also

• rotel

References

• rote in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• rote in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• rote in Walter E. Harlock, Svensk-engelsk ordbok : skolupplaga (1964)

Anagrams

• Tore, oret