roll

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To move by turning over and over, or to make something move this way.

   The ball rolled down the hill and stopped at the fence.

2. 2
   verb

   To move along smoothly on wheels.

   The car rolled slowly past the crowd.

3. 3
   verb

   To rock or sway from side to side.

   The ship rolled on the heavy seas.

4. 4
   noun

   Something wrapped or curled into a tube shape.

   She put the map into a roll and tied it with string.

5. 5
   noun

   An official list of names.

   The teacher called the roll at the start of class.

Multiword verbs with roll

• roll around Phrasal verb A2

  to arrive again as part of a regular cycle

• roll off Phrasal verb A2

  to recite a series of words or facts quickly and easily

• roll over Phrasal verb A2

  to turn the body or an object onto another side

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Roll entered Middle English and ultimately derives from Latin rotula, meaning “little wheel.” The rolled sheet of paper gave rise to related uses such as enrol, originally writing names on a roll, and role, from French roule, for the paper on which an actor’s part was written.

From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source. Displaced native English welt and partially displaced English wallow.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary