Roster comes from Dutch rooster ('list, schedule', literally 'gridiron'), from roosten ('to roast'), so named because such lists were ruled into a grid resembling a gridiron. The historical chain includes Dutch rooster. Older glosses in the chain include "list, schedule", "gridiron", and "to roast", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, roster is best read as borrowing, yielding an English noun and verb shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and verb, with the sense "a list of names, duties, or players; to enter on such a list". English derivatives include rostered and rostering; related forms include rota. The result is an English noun and verb whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.