roten.1
/rəʊt/, U.S. /roʊt/ 1. by rote: in a mechanical or repetitious manner: (esp. of learning, etc.) acquired by memorization without proper understanding or reflection; (also) †with precision, by heart (obsolete).
a. With verbs as say, sing, play, etc.In quot. c1400 probably in sense ‘in due order, with due ceremony’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > memorization > [adverb]
on breastOE
bout bookOE
by rotea1325
by hearta1387
without (one's) booka1413
par coeura1425
cordially1479
perqueerc1480
cordiala1500
by the book1556
memoriter1612
memorially1660
from memory1856
a1325 (?c1300) in Anniv. Papers Kittredge (1913) 110 (MED) Ich may noȝt synge hym al bi rote Vorto tele eche note.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) 2207 (MED) Þat gere..Is ryched at þe reuerence me, renk, to mete bi rote.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 329 Euery statut koude he pleyn by roote.
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 815 Suych labourerys synge may be roote, ‘Alle goo we stille, the Cok hath lowe shoon’.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. HHHvii If it were, than I myght..say my seruice by rote and custome.
1577 N. Breton Floorish vpon Fancie sig. Giiv I did not syng one noate, Except it were by roate.
c1600 (?c1395) Pierce Ploughman's Crede (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) 377 Loke a ribaut of hem þat can nouȝt wel reden His rewle ne his respondes but be pure rote.
1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. xxxiv. sig. G1v Hee tels you lyes by rote.
1658 J. Playford Breif Introd. Skill Musick (new ed.) ii. 78 To learn to play by rote or ear without book.
1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. vi. 132 We can all repeat the Commandments by rote.
1773 H. More Search after Happiness ii. 141 I talk'd by rote the jargon of the schools.
1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley vii. 111 The young ladies..played their duet more by rote than con amore this night.
1856 N. Hawthorne Jrnl. 20 Nov. in Eng. Notebks. (1997) II. v. 168 This guide..did his business less by rote, and more with a vivacious interest, than any guide I ever met.
1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 436 The college..where little boys learn to repeat by rote the Koran from end to end.
1913 ‘M. Field’ Mystic Trees 30 He learns our little part by rote.
1956 A. Wilson Anglo-Saxon Attitudes i. iv. 140 ‘He lectures in medieval history,’ Robin answered by rote, ‘but don't get much of our money from that.’
1988 P. Carey Oscar & Lucinda xlviii. 213 These were not prayers said by rote, but new ones, every time.
b. With verbs as know, get, learn, etc.
ΚΠ
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Prioress's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 70 He..herkned ay the wordes and the note Til he the firste vers koude al by rote.
a1450 Partonope of Blois (Univ. Coll. Oxf.) (1912) l. 5925 Alle maner of Spyces I know by rote.
a1500 (?a1400) Tale King Edward & Shepherd (Cambr.) (1930) l. 249 (MED) I shalle tech þe a gamme; I can hit wel be rote.
1526 W. Tyndale Prol. Epist. Rom. sig. aij I thinke it mete, that every christen man..knowe it by roote and with oute the boke.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. ix. sig. H8v Singing all her sorrow to the note, As she had learned readily by rote . View more context for this quotation
1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον viii. 375 The Psalmes of David which shee had almost ad unguem and by roat.
1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 11 All which he understood by Rote, And as occasion serv'd, would quote.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 38. ⁋12 He has by Rote, and at Second-hand, all that can be said of any Man of Figure, Wit, and Virtue in Town.
1749 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 3 Nov. (1932) (modernized text) IV. 1427 Those principles which you then got, like your grammar rules, only by rote.
1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 212 Words learn'd by rote, a parrot may rehearse.
1841 T. Carlyle On Heroes v. 294 Their commonplace doctrines, which they have learned by logic, by rote, at second-hand.
1876 L. Stephen Hours in Libr. 2nd Ser. vii. 339 In time we learn by rote the lessons which we had to spell out in our youth.
1939 R. P. Warren Night Rider ii. 38 Each of the men, repeating his name as though it were a lesson to be learned by rote, took his hand and shook it.
1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate i. 9 The children of this sect learned their lessons, all subjects alike, by plaintive rote, singing them out in Hebrew.
1990 Times Educ. Suppl. 8 June A5/2 We see no reason for [basic knowledge]..to be given by list or learned by rote.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [noun]
i-wunec888
wise971
gatec1175
lawc1175
manners?c1225
wone?c1225
usec1325
hauntc1330
use1340
rotec1350
consuetude1382
customancea1393
usancea1393
practicc1395
guisea1400
usagea1400
wonta1400
spacec1400
accustomancec1405
customheada1425
urec1425
wontsomenessc1425
accustomc1440
wonningc1440
practice1502
habitudec1598
habiture1598
habit1605
wonting1665
c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 93 (MED) Þe þrydde heste apertelyche Scheweþ wyþ [read þy] wykked rote, Wanne þou [ne] halst þy masseday As god hyt haþ y-hote.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. 1312 Thilke art, which Spatula is hote, And used is of comun rote Among Paiens.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vi. 1457 (MED) Uluxes..broght hem into such a rote That upon him thei bothe assote.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 437 Root, of vse and custome, habitus, consuetudo, assuetudo.
a1450 Generides (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) 5294 (MED) The deuel him hang bi the throte That will suffre this Rote.
?1549 G. Joye Contrarye sig. B.iijv It taketh dayly suche rote and custome, that as in other countries dronknes is rekened for a vertue, so is adultery nowe comonly but a praysed laughter.
3. A rigmarole. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > nonsense, rubbish > unintelligible language, gibberish > [noun] > instance of
rotea1400
rabblec1400
rabblement1547
gabbling1599
bilka1637
ribble-row1665
sottise1673
rigmarolec1736
lockram1809
ráiméis1828
a1400 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Egerton) f. 57v Men seye..in olde roote [c1330 Auch. riote] Þat wymmennes bolt is sone shoote.
1681 Peace & Truth 14 The Church of Rome hath turned Prayer into a meer Rote or Charm of unintelligible Words.
1731 N. Amhurst Coll. Poems 22 Every plausible Harangue affords A specious, empty, puzzling Rote of Words.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa VI. cii. 342 Thou runnest on with thy cursed nonsensical reformado-rote, of dying, dying, dying!
1870 E. Cook Poet. Wks. 362 The dulcet jargon of a courtly rote.
1931 B. Marshall Fr. Malachy's Miracle xii. 324 The general public illusion to the contrary has been produced by some hypnotic rote.
1969 R. Lowell Notebk. 1967–8 96 Mohammed..smashed the celibates..Changed their non-activist Buddhistic rote to his clans' strict laws of schrecklichkeit and honor.
4. Mechanical practice or performance; regular procedure; routine.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [noun] > routine
rote1581
route1725
routine1760
habituality1801
automatism1882
mechanicalism1903
autopilot1967
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xli. 244 By the meere shadow, and roat of these sciences.
1594 R. Ashley tr. L. le Roy Interchangeable Course vii. f. 95v Al his eloquence was but a rote gotten by long exercise.
1652 A. Burgess Spiritual Refining xi. xcv. 561 If they do pray, they have some short prayers of rote, which they utter as Parrats understanding nothing of it, and so irreligiously discharging of it.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner i. i. i. 3 A presumptuous Pratling Ignorance, upheld by some wretched Rote.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 80 Experience, Tryal upon the Ground, and a certain Rote,..necessary to this End.
1768 Woman of Honor II. 81 His education had proceeded in the common rote through school and college.
1768 Woman of Honor II. 189 He took the rote of forms to be the very quintessence of affairs.
1894 R. Fanshawe Two Lives 159 Grey October dawn, thou comest back, With autumn's pause, that cold room and the rote Of common things recurrent, of whose track All sense were faded.
1908 T. Hardy Dynasts: Pt. 3rd i. vi. 34 Whose emissaries knock at every door In rhythmal rote.
a1918 W. Owen Uricorium in Compl. Poems (1983) I. 66 By the rote of common dawn and dusk, We travel back to history's utmost edge.
1932 Times 7 Sept. 10/5 The Council of the League of Nations will begin its sixty-eighth Session..under the chairmanship of the representative of the Irish Free State, whose turn it is by alphabetical rote.
1995 J. Miller & M. Stacey Driving Instructor's Handbk. (ed. 8) viii. 224 Rote is the lowest form of learning.
Compounds
C1.
a. attributive. Of or relating to learning by rote; (Education and Psychology) designating the ability to memorize by rote; of or relating to this ability, as rote verbal memory, rote visual memory, etc. Cf. rote memory n. at Compounds 1b.
ΚΠ
1844 Seventh Ann. Rep. Board Educ. Mass. 99 An instructor in vocal music..has been able..to impart such a degree of rudimentary knowledge as will enable its recipients to introduce vocal music, or rote-singing, into their schools.
1856 G. Sydenham Notes of Lessons xvii. 153 The pernicious consequences of teaching children rote answers.
1862 W. J. Unwin Primary School, Pt. I ii. 12 It does not follow that because rote teaching is essentially and intolerably bad, therefore nothing should be learned off by memory and repeated by rote at all.
1913 E. L. Thorndike Educ. Psychol. II. xii. 377 The memorizing was rote memorizing in all cases.
1917 A. F. Bronner Psychol. Special Abilities & Disabilities v. 58 Rote visual memory was normal. He accurately reproduced drawings shown to him, but it was a different story when auditory powers were tested.
1956 Peabody Jrnl. Educ. 33 374/2 The initial learning of rote songs, tonal patterns, rhymic study, choice and use of accompanying instruments.
1989 B. P. Rourke Nonverbal Learning Disabilities v. 82 Rote verbal memory and memory for material that is readily coded in a rote verbal fashion becomes extremely well developed.
2008 B. Siegel Getting Best for your Child with Autism vii. 149 Autistic children for whom good rote auditory memory is a great compensatory strength.
b.
rote knowledge n.
ΚΠ
1748 T. Nugent tr. J.-B. Dubos Crit. Refl. Poetry & Painting III. i. 8 What we perform in our days merely by the direction of instinct, or at the most by a kind of rote-knowledge.
1862 G. P. Marsh Orig. & Hist. Eng. Lang. 25 A rote-knowledge of paradigms and definitions.
1989 M. Moffatt Coming of Age in New Jersey i. 22/2 Our dean concluded with the simple observation that the student had now demonstrated not just rote knowledge but also a wide grasp of the subject, the point of higher education.
rote lesson n.
ΚΠ
1641 J. Milton Animadversions 18 To pray in his own words without being..fescu'd to a formal injunction of his rote-lesson.
1877 M. T. P. Mann Moral Culture of Infancy 151 This was a rote-lesson which the children rattled off glibly.
1918 Jrnl. Educ. Oct. 342 His linking of the scale with masterpieces of beauty have transformed the rote lesson itself into a means to appreciation.
2008 Business Week (Nexis) 16 June 48 To create a tool that could deliver more than rote lessons and e-books.
rote-memorization n.
ΚΠ
1895 Munson Phonographic News & Teacher May 31 This system of rote memorization is and must be largely ineffectual, because it is rote memorization; because it is simply a series of unintelligent ‘cramming.’
1929 Sci. Monthly 29 418/1 Since the learner was exalted above the doer, the movement resulted in ‘gerund-grinding’ and the rote-memorization of Latin paradyms.
1994 Appl. Linguistics 15 78 Lightbown..suggests that rote-memorization may have a detrimental effect by blocking learners' own mechanisms for dealing with language input.
rote memory n.
ΚΠ
1842 Westm. Rev. Jan. 53/2 The learning of names, and what is called rote or routine memory.
1848 Ecelectic Rev. Nov. 535 The many teachers who confound facility of learning, a mere rote-memory, with the possession of..higher qualities.
1967 BioScience 17 661/1 Students should receive equal recognition for creative thinking as well as for achievement through rote memory.
rote work n.
ΚΠ
1743 F. Blyth Serm. Every Sunday III. ix. 257 When you go to Communion, your Devotion is Custom, your Prayers are Rote-work, and your Adorations almost Mockery.
1847 Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 7 72/1 These tints were disposed in a confused manner, so as to prevent the liability which otherwise might arise of mere rote-work, or the utterance, from habit, of consecutive words without comprehending their meaning.
1891 Overland Monthly June 666 The main objection urged against the a-b-c-darians has always been that they encouraged in the child a tendency to rote-work.
1941 French Rev. 14 408 Is the repetition in the melody natural? Is the melody suitable to rote work?
2007 GameAxis Unwired Dec. 50 The niftiest feature in Phantom Hourglass comes from the ability to scribble clues or draw paths on assorted dungeon maps, where previously one would solely be relying on rote work or notepad at hand.
c.
rote-learned adj.
ΚΠ
1848 E. Cook To Charlotte Cushman iii No rote-learned sighing.
1876 Harper's Mag. Aug. 446/1 ‘Can you say this?’ said Jacob, immediately giving forth a string of his rote-learned Hebrew verses.
1911 Open Court 25 311 In our ordinary system of numeral words, with fixed and rote-learned order, each word is used to convey also an exact notion of the multiplicity of individuals in the group.
1959 W. P. Malm Japanese Music 264 These numbers were written to the right of the words, the rhythm being remembered by its connection with the vocal line (which was rote learned not notated).
1992 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 19 Nov. 24/1 A teacher should always stress applications rather than rote-learned principles.
C2.
rote learning n. learning by memorization without proper understanding or reflection; mechanical learning; (Psychology) a technique in the study of learning in which meaningless material is memorized.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > developmental psychology > acquisition of knowledge > types of learning > [noun]
rote learning1842
trial and error1894
imitation1895
rehearsal1902
latent learning1929
e-learning1997
1842 A. Potter & G. B. Emerson School & School Master 33 in Amer. Jrnl. Educ. (1990) 99 26 Mere rote-learning and word-mongery.
1861 Biblical Repertory Apr. 186 The old system of commencing the study of language by enforcing with a rod a mere rote-learning of all its grammatical formulas..was appalling enough.
1876 J. Grant Hist. Burgh Schools Scotl. ii. xiii. 401 The rote-learning of rules once so universal.
1940 G. Katona Organizing & Memorizing vii. 164 We shall study the classic material used in investigating the memory, that is, rote learning of nonsense syllables.
1999 Independent 21 May ii. 5/4 The book's discussion assumes that the only choice is between ‘rote learning’..and ‘understanding’.
Derivatives
rote-like adj.
ΚΠ
1854 B. Bouchier Manna in House IV. xci. 389 It is sad to think with what unimpassioned feeling, with what almost flippant volubility, with what merely rote-like currency, the words pass from our lips.
1899 Overland Monthly Apr. 384/1 He writes in the scrappy rote-like method of half-knowledge.
1954 W. Faulkner Fable 35 He said, repeated, rote-like, cold, unemphasised, almost telegraphic: ‘Comité des Forges’.
2008 Times (Nexis) 22 Sept. (Features) 18 The couple's mimed toilet habits, with another spot of rote-like intercourse thrown in.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
roten.2
/rəʊt/, U.S. /roʊt/ Now historical.
Any of several stringed medieval musical instruments, with a soundboard, and either bowed or plucked.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > stringed instruments > bowable instrument > [noun] > fiddle > early fiddles
crowda1310
ribiblec1330
rotec1330
ribibec1415
rebec1755
crwth1837
rotta1864
c1330 Sir Tristrem 1853 (MED) His rote, wiþ outen wen, He rauȝt bi þe ring.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. 829 (MED) He tawhte hir til sche was certein Of Harpe, of Citole, and of Rote.
c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) 2393 (MED) Deduit..kan hem euerychon: Touche be crafte, and nat be rote, Harpe and lute, fythel and Rote.
c1450 (a1375) Octavian (Calig.) (1979) l. 69 (MED) Ther myȝth men here menstralcye..Roowte, gyterne, lute, & sawtrye.
?1560 Squyr Lowe Degre sig. Eiiiv There was myrth and melody With harpe getron and sautry with rote ribible and clokarde.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. ix. sig. H8v There did he find..The faire Pœana playing on a Rote.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xxiii. 110 The lad can deftly touch the lute, And on the rote and viol play.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany vii. 93 To converse, or sing ancient Breton lays to the rote.
1884 E. Heron-Allen Violin-making 62 The only difference between the earliest crwths..and the latest rotes..seems to be the addition of the bow and finger-board.
1906 C. M. Doughty Dawn in Brit. I. iv. 203 He took his rote from off his neck, and toucht The silver wires.
1941 Speculum 16 76 The friar not only played upon the rote, but had a great reputation for singing ballads.
1977 Early Music 5 259 The British Museum restoration of the Sutton Hoo rotte was altogether a remarkable achievement.
1995 E. D. Blodgett tr. Romance of Flamenca 33 One played a rebeck; another, a rote.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† roten.3
Obsolete.
1. Roman Catholic Church. = rota n. 1. Chiefly with the.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > ecclesiastical discipline > court > papal court (rota) > [noun]
rote1467
rota1561
1467–8 in J. Raine Corr., Inventories, Acct. Rolls, & Law Proc. Priory of Coldingham (1841) 215 I found the register yeven to the Juge and the cause put into the rotte.
1528 S. Gardiner & E. Foxe in N. Pocock Rec. of Reformation (1870) (modernized text) I. 106 One Jacobus Symonet, dean of the rote.
1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes iii, in Wks. 216/1 Sauyng the premunyre, we myghte haue it tryed in the rote at Rome.
1612 W. Shute tr. T. de Fougasses Gen. Hist. Venice ii. 59 The Pope sent Iacomo Stafilea Auditor of the Rote to Venice, to entreat the Senate to agree with Maximilian, and to enter into the league.
1661 J. Godolphin Συνηγορος Θαλασσιος 52 The many Judgements and Decisions of the several Rotes of Italy at Rome, at Naples, at Florence, at Genoa, at Bononia, at Mantua, at Perusium, and the rest.
1787 C. Smith Romance Real Life II. 130 At the court of Rome, the department called the Rote, allowed the validity of her marriage.
1877 C. Lindsey Rome in Canada 48 The delays in the Court of Rote, at Rome, were ruinous: Balde says that if a cause was decided within thirty years, good progress was made.
1894 J. M'Clintock & J. Strong Cycl. Biblical, Theol., & Eccl. Lit. (new ed.) Suppl. I. 385/1 He was auditor of the rote at the court of Rome in 1777.
2. A wheel, esp. one used as an instrument of torture or punishment.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > torture > instrument or place of torture > [noun] > wheel
wheelc888
rat1481
rote1526
row1557
torture-wheel1837
1526 R. Whitford tr. Martiloge f. xliii All theyr membres & hole body stretched vpon a rote or turnyng whele.
1532 R. Whitford Pype or Tonne f. 221 Mannes mynde: is as a rote, or a whele in a wynde: that neuer doth rest, but alway tourneth.
c1600 Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents (1833) 250 James Cadder.., being..tane in Striueling in maner foirsaid, wes brokin on the root.
3. Rotation; turn. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > frequency > [noun] > recurrence > turn
charec1000
lotc1175
throwc1275
tourc1320
wheel1422
turnc1425
tourney1523
course1530
vice1637
rubbera1643
rote1831
whet1849
journey1884
1831 Fraser's Mag. 3 508 They at first resolved That each should govern in diurnal rote.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
† roten.4
Obsolete.
A unit of weight, perhaps a quarter of a Roman libra or pound (corresponding to approx. 113 grams).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > [noun] > specific liquid or dry units
miteOE
meta1325
suma1325
measurec1325
last1341
maund1365
pottlea1382
mug1400
mutchkin?1425
eightin-dele1440
rotec1484
sixtera1492
stortkyn1501
tolbot1536
firlot1549
sleek1705
modius1802
ton tight-
c1484 (a1475) J. de Caritate tr. Secreta Secret. (Takamiya) (1977) 167 (MED) Take..of þe jwse of sowr pome garnettis x rotis..and of qwyte swgyr þat is clene x rotis.
a1500 (?a1425) tr. Secreta Secret. (Lamb.) 84 (MED) Take..of rede roses a Rote [L. rota], and of violettys þe fferthe party of a Rote and put all in x Rotes [ Caritate rotyis; L. rotis] of swete water.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
roten.5
/rəʊt/, U.S. /roʊt/, Canadian English /roːt/ Now chiefly North American (chiefly New England and Newfoundland).
The roaring of the sea or surf on the shore.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > sound of water > [noun] > roaring of waves
routingc1450
buller1513
rout1513
rut1582
rote1610
1610 R. Niccols England's Eliza in Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) 837 While the seas rote doth ring their dolefull knell.
1682 J. Flavell Pract. Treat. Fear (new ed.) iii. 24 Such a noise as the rote of the sea.
1855 T. C. Haliburton Nature & Human Nature II. iv. 104 When..the rote is on the beach, it tells me it is the voice of the south wind giving notice of rain.
1869 T. W. Higginson Malbone xviii. 192 She could only distinguish..the rote on the distant beach.
1873 Daily Cleveland (Ohio) Herald 8 Apr. 1/4 We must have been a good mile from Pennant Point when we run in, but I neither saw the breakers nor heard the ‘rout’.
c1890 Gregor MSS in Sc. National Dict. (1968) VII. 485/1 The succession of breakers on the beach during a storm is called ‘Rotes o' sey’.
1909 Newfoundland Q. Dec. 9/1 The fishermen are accustomed, in foggy weather, to find their bearings by carefully listening to the rout of the sea on the shore, which they (very correctly) call rote, or rut.
1941 T. S. Eliot Dry Salvages i. 8 The menace and caress of wave that breaks on water, The distant rote in the granite teeth.
1965 S. E. Morison in Amer. Neptune Oct. 236 T. S. Eliot doubtless listened to the rote from his parents' house, during the windless calm after a storm.
1975 in Dict. Newfoundland Eng. (1982) 420/1 Rote from the shore on a calm night indicates wind from that direction the following day.
1997 M. D. Shrayer tr. V. Nabokov in Slavonic & East European Rev. 75 640 All kinds of sounds burst forth—the rote of the sea, the clapping of the wind, human cries.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† roteadj.1
Obsolete.
Rotten, decayed. Also figurative.In quot. a1382 with reference to menstruation.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > foulness or filth > [adjective]
blackOE
rotea1382
lousyc1386
unwashed?a1390
fulsomec1390
filthy?c1400
rankc1400
leprousa1425
sicka1425
miry1532
shitten?1545
murrain1575
obscene1597
vicious1597
ketty1607
putrid1628
putredinous1641
foede1657
fulsamic1694
carrion1826
foul1842
shitty1879
scabrous1880
scummy1932
pukey1933
shitting1950
gungy1962
grungy1965
shithouse1966
grot1967
bogging1973
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Jer. ii. 24 In hir rote [a1382 Bodl. 959 roten; a1425 L.V. vncleene] blod flowingus [L. menstruis] thei shul finden hir.
c1410 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Harl. 7334) (1885) l. 3873 That ilke fruyt [sc. the medlar] is euer lenger þe wers Til it be rote [c1405 Hengwrt roten] in mullok or in stree.
c1430 (c1380) G. Chaucer Second Nun's Tale (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1875) l. 17 Ydilnesse is rote slogardye.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 14547 (MED) Fressh peynture Maketh fayr a sepulture..With-Inne thogh yt ffoule stynke Off karyen and off roote boonys.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
roteadj.2
/rəʊt/, U.S. /roʊt/ Occurring in a mechanical and repetitious manner; routine.
ΚΠ
1959 Bull. Atomic Scientists Sept. 277/1 The danger of specialist isolation in tunnels of mechanical robotism and rote performance.
1973 A. R. Jensen Educ. Differences 65 As the learning task becomes more rote.
1989 M. Dorris Broken Cord viii. 120 A situation was comfortable for him when it became rote, troubling and ignorable when it wasn't.
1991 C. Eddy Stairway to Hell 3 The nihilism gets completely rote and ritualistic.
2007 J. L. Gould & C. G. Gould Animal Architects i. 12 The intriguing thing about imprinting is how rote it is: it takes place only at a specific age, and it is usually irreversible.
Derivatives
rotely adv.
ΚΠ
1960 J. Barth Sot-weed Factor iii. xi. 645 Feast days, fast days, monuments, and rites..all forgotten, or rotely observed by a gentry numb to the emotions that established them.
1970 E. V. Sullivan in R. W. Burns & G. D. Brooks Curriculum Design in Changing Society vii. 129 The children would be rotely parroting answers supplied by the teacher.
1989 Amer. Jrnl. Mental Retardation 44 340/2 Joseph has some sense, even if rotely learned, that other people react to his behavior.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† rotev.1
Obsolete.
intransitive. Of a banner: to flutter. Of wind: (perhaps) to blow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > move irregularly or be agitated [verb (intransitive)] > wave in the wind
rotec1330
waive1338
waverc1440
wafterc1450
wave1487
to waver with or in the windc1503
streama1560
flaunt1576
wift1609
fly1659
waff1834
flare1837
c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 3867 (MED) Þer miȝt men se þe baners roten, Þe stedes forþ wel ȝern schoten.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 437 (MED) Rotyn, as eyre: Flactesco.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
† rotev.2
Obsolete.
1. intransitive and transitive. To rotate. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > revolve or rotate [verb (transitive)]
turnOE
trillc1386
gyrec1420
rote?1533
tirl1543
to turn round1555
revolve1559
circumvert1578
circumgyre1635
circumrote1635
circumgyrate1647
circumvolve1647
veera1649
twist1769
rotate1777
sphere1820
?1533–4 R. Saltwood Compar. bytwene iiij. Byrdes sig. Aii As whyle markyng in cyrcle rotyng [rhyme dotyng].
?1533–4 R. Saltwood Compar. bytwene iiij. Byrdes sig. Biv Of orbes rotyng she lerned armony Enforsed by powre of the fyrst mouyng.
1578 J. Banister Hist. Man i. f. 27 When the cubit is at furthest extended, the posteriour and great Processe thereof, is roted and wheled.
2. intransitive. To go out or in by rotation or turn. Cf. rotate v. 2b(b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > alternation > rotation > rotate [verb (intransitive)]
rote1692
1692 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses II. 439 The third part of the Senate or House should rote out by Ballot every year.
a1697 J. Aubrey Brief Lives: J. Harrington (1898) I. 291 Now this modell upon rotation was:—that the third part of the Senate should rote out by ballot every yeare.
1806 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. 4 240 Of three County Members one might rote out yearly.
1860 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem (1861) III. clxxi. 199 Here the only way seems to be, that instead of roting out, as was the device of our ancestors, men should for once in a way rote in.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
rotev.3
/rəʊt/, U.S. /roʊt/ 1. transitive. To repeat, to run over, to rattle off, from memory. Also occasionally intransitive. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > repetition > repeat [verb (transitive)] > rapidly mechanically
pitter-patterc1500
patter1531
pittle-pattle1549
rote?1606
parrot1640
cuckoo1648
chime1697
thrum1710
chant1812
poll-parrot1865
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > memorization > memorize, learn by heart [verb (transitive)] > repeat from memory
to say over1560
rote?1606
?1606 M. Drayton Eglog i, in Poemes sig. C7v Rauish'd to heare the warbling birds to roate.
1630 M. Drayton Muses Elyzium ii. 13 If by chance a Tune you roate, 'Twill foote it finely to your note.
1681 R. Baxter Answer to Mr. Dodwell iv. 57 Did you think that your roteing over the name to them that deny the thing, would make a wise man change his Religion?
1740 E. Smith Forty Two Serm. I. xv. 273 Others, as inconsiderately, yet more frequently, rote over the Principles of their holy Profession.
1816 J. Gilchrist Philos. Etymol. 134 It is really to be wished that authors would think more and rote less.
1816 J. Gilchrist Philos. Etymol. 140 The usual violations of usage might be put into a sixpenny piece to be roted off by the grammatical disciple.
1838 M. F. Tupper Of Mem. in Proverb. Philos. iii Memory is not wisdom: idiots can rote volumes.
1905 J. Davidson Theatrocrat iii. 160 How often have you said that? Reel-and-rote, A parrot speech!
1911 Homiletic Rev. Aug. 88 And so on to the end of a familiar chapter that has been roted over by innumerable crass critics in various forms until it has become hoary and ridiculous with reiteration.
2. transitive. To learn or fix by rote. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > memorization > memorize, learn by heart [verb (transitive)]
record?c1225
renderc1380
to can by rotec1405
con?a1425
to con by heartc1449
can1496
to bear away1530
get1540
commend to memory1550
commit?1551
to con over1605
rotea1616
lodge1622
to get off by heart1709
memorize1834
rehearse1902
memorate1983
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) iii. ii. 56 Now it lyes you on to speake to th'people..with such words That are but roated in your Tongue. View more context for this quotation
1775 T. Sheridan Lect. Art of Reading I. iv. 283 Not..able to repeat even what is perfectly roted on the memory.
1826 J. H. Howlett Instr. Reading Liturgy of United Church Pref. p. xxxvi They who have been always accustomed to the assistance of the book may..not be able to repeat even what is perfectly roted in the memory.
1921 G. Moore Héloïse & Abélard xv. 184 I've heard of talking birds..and know not if they can say all the words that are reported of them, but am full sure that the words they learn from us are roted in them without meaning, just like their own cries.
Derivatives
roted adj. rare
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [adjective] > skilled or experienced
oldOE
well-usedc1300
experientc1420
way-wisea1460
pertly1466
practica1522
perite1530
well-practised1539
well-experienced1541
practised1548
experienced1576
veteran1624
practical1632
well-seasoned1640
seasoneda1643
callent1656
versant1766
used1786
salted1864
roteda1901
shell-backed1930
a1901 W. E. Channing . Poems of Sixty-Five Years (1902) 56 The smooth and roted sermon doff to Fame?
1906 J. C. McNeill Songs, Merry & Sad 74 Have roted words such power to bless and blame?
roting n. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > repetition > [noun] > rapid or mechanical repetition
pitter-pattera1450
parrotinga1603
recitation1770
roting1816
psittacism1861
the mind > language > speech > repetition > [adjective] > mechanically repeating
parroting1648
roting1816
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > memorization > [noun] > repeating from memory
roting1816
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > memorization > [adjective] > repeating from memory
roting1816
1816 J. Gilchrist Philos. Etymol. 186 Can our roting, repeating scholar make Latin as Cicero made it?
1817 J. Gilchrist Intell. Patrimony 15 You will witness much reading, roting and repeating among those who pretend to learning.
1865 S. W. Seton Rep. in Documents Board of Educ. N.Y. 107 This carefulness at first is necessary, otherwise counting by objects is only roting.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1a1325
n.2c1330
n.31467
n.4c1484n.51610adj.1a1382
adj.21959v.1c1330v.2?1533v.3?1606