Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Roll in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels roll as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Roll

[OF. roeler, roler, F. rouler, LL. rotulare, fr. L. royulus, rotula, a little wheel, dim. of rota wheel; akin to G. rad, and to Skr. ratha car, chariot. Cf. Control, Roll, n., Rotary.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordroll
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[OF. roeler, roler, F. rouler, LL. rotulare, fr. L. royulus, rotula, a little wheel, dim. of rota wheel; akin to G. rad, and to Skr. ratha car, chariot. Cf. Control, Roll, n., Rotary.]
Selected historical definitionTo cause to revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on an axis; to impel forward by causing to turn over and over on a supporting surface; as, to roll a wheel, a ball, or a barrel.
Signed record IDwebster1913-roll-verb-1d5222c521c9
Source locatorCIDE.R, paragraph 9353; Gutenberg eBook 667
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 667Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "roll" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[OF. roeler, roler, F. rouler, LL. rotulare, fr. L. royulus, rotula, a little wheel, dim. of rota wheel; akin to G. rad, and to Skr. ratha car, chariot. Cf. Control, Roll, n., Rotary.]" The selected historical definition says: "To cause to revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on an axis; to impel forward by causing to turn over and over on a supporting surface; as, to roll a wheel, a ball, or a barrel."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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