Roll

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /ɹəʊl/

Definitions

1. To turn over or rotate along an axis; to proceed by revolving or tumbling; a small round or cylindrical piece of bread
2. To cause to spin or revolve; to wrap up firmly by coiling; a series or sequence of items arranged consecutively
3. To move by turning over on an axis or to fluctuate smoothly; to form a coil or scroll; a cylinder of material or a list of names

Etymology: The verb "roll" grows from a tiny wheel. Latin "rota" meant "a wheel", and its diminutive "rotula" meant "a little wheel". Medieval Latin turned that into "rotulare", "to roll or revolve", and Old French took it up as "roller", which Middle English then borrowed as "rollen". The word thus began as a description of something turning on an axle, and the sense of turning over, which is the meaning here, is a short step from that. The noun has a different path that happens to converge on the same sound. It comes from Old French "rolle" and Medieval Latin "rotulus", a scroll or parchment rolled up, used for lists, catalogues and records. Because the two words come from the same Latin source yet entered English separately, they are doublets. The noun gave English "role" as well, an actor's rolled-up script that eventually came to mean the part he played.

Synonyms: turn, spin, revolve, rotate, twist

Antonyms: stop, remain, stay