rote
Pronunciation: /ɹəʊt/
The English word “rote” has 7 meanings listed here.
noun
- Mechanical routine; a fixed, habitual, repetitive, or mechanical course of procedure.
- The roar of the surf; the sound of waves breaking on the shore.
- 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.
- Synonym of crowd.
adjective
- By repetition or practice and without much thought.
verb
- To go out by rotation or succession; to rotate.
- To learn or repeat by rote.
Etymology
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…
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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.