rote
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɹəʊt/
- (US) IPA(key): /ɹoʊt/
- Rhymes: -əʊt
Etymology 1
From Middle English rote, further origin unknown. Likely from the phrase bi (“by”) rote (“heart”), 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.
Noun
rote (uncountable)
- The process of learning or committing something to memory through mechanical repetition, usually by hearing and repeating aloud, often without full attention to comprehension or thought for the meaning.
- They didn’t have copies of the music for everyone, so most of us had to learn the song by rote.
- 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.
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”.
Derived terms
Translations
See also
Adjective
rote (comparative more rote, superlative most rote)
- By repetition or practice.
- 2000, Ami Klin; Fred R. Volkmar, 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
-
Verb
rote (third-person singular simple present rotes, present participle roting, simple past and past participle roted)
- (obsolete) To go out by rotation or succession; to rotate.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Zane Grey to this entry?)
- (transitive) To learn or repeat by rote.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
Etymology 2
c. 1600, from Old Norse rót n (“tossing, pitching (of sea)”), perhaps related to rauta (“to roar”).
Noun
rote (uncountable)
Translations
Etymology 3
Old English rote, probably of German origin; compare Middle High German rotte, and English crowd (“a kind of violin”).
Noun
rote (plural rotes)
- (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.
- Sir Walter Scott
- extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds, and rotes
- Sir Walter Scott
- Synonym of crowd
Anagrams
French
Noun
rote f (plural rotes)
- rote (musical instrument)
Verb
rote
Anagrams
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʀoːtə/
Adjective
rote
- strong, mixed and weak feminine singular nominative form of rot.
- strong, mixed and weak feminine singular accusative form of rot.
- strong plural nominative form of rot.
- strong plural accusative form of rot.
- weak masculine singular nominative form of rot.
- weak neuter singular nominative form of rot.
- weak neuter singular accusative form of rot.
Italian
Noun
rote f
- plural of rota
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /roːtə/
Verb
rote (present tense roter, past tense rota or rotet, past participle rota or rotet)
- to untidy, to make a mess
- (slang) to fool around (engage in casual or flirtatious sexual acts)
Derived terms
- rotet (or rotete)
- rotehue
- rotekopp
Related terms
References
- “rote” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Old French
Noun
rote f (oblique plural rotes, nominative singular rote, nominative plural rotes)
- rote (musical instrument)
Descendants
- French: rote
Portuguese
Verb
rote
- first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of rotar
- third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of rotar
- third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of rotar
- third-person singular (você) negative imperative of rotar
Spanish
Verb
rote
- Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of rotar.
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of rotar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of rotar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of rotar.
Swedish
Etymology
Old Swedish rote, cognate with English rout and Latin rutta, ruptus.
Noun
rote c
- a district (of a parish or town, for the purpose of fire fighting, road maintenance, mail forwarding, social care, etc.)
- 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!
- 20 rotar
Declension
| Declension of rote | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | rote | roten | rotar | rotarna |
| Genitive | rotes | rotens | rotars | rotarnas |
Related terms
- brandrote
- postrote
- rotechef
- rotehjon
- rotepar
See also
References
- rote in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)
- rote in Svenska Akademiens ordbok online.
- rote in Walter E. Harlock, Svensk-engelsk ordbok : skolupplaga (1964)