rote
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Etymology 1
From Middle English, origin uncertain. Likely from the phrase bi rote (“‘by heart’”), c. 1300. Some have proposed a relationship either with Old French rote/rute (“‘route’”), or Latin rota (“‘wheel’”) (see rotary), but the O.E.D. calls both suggestions groundless.
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
rote (uncountable)
- (usually in the phrase by rote) The process of committing something to memory through repetition, in a mechanical way, 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.
- 2009, Jim Holt, Got Poetry?
- But memorize them we did, in big painful chunks, by rote repetition.
- 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.
[edit] Usage notes
Mostly found in the phrase by rote, and in attributive use: “rote learning”, “rote memorization”, and so on. It is not normally considered an adjective, but the derived adverb rotely is attested.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
[edit] Etymology 2
c. 1600, from Old Norse rót (“‘tossing, pitching (of sea)’”) n., perhaps related to rauta (“‘to roar’”).
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
rote (uncountable)
[edit] Translations
[edit] German
[edit] Adjective
rote
- Inflected form of rot.
[edit] Norwegian
[edit] Etymology
[edit] Verb
rote (present tense roter; past tense rota/rotet; past participle rota/rotet; present participle rotende; imperative rot)
- to untidy, to make a mess
- (slang) to fool around (engage in casual or flirtatious sexual acts)
