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"to roll" in seven languages

Meaningto roll

Spanish

rodar

/roˈdaɾ/

other source · Latin ROTĀRE 'to turn like a wheel'

Enrollar is 'to roll up'.

French

rouler

/ʁule/

inherited

Italian

rotolare

/rotoˈlare/

inherited

Built on rotolo 'roll' (ROTULUS).

Portuguese

rolar

/hoˈlah/

borrowed · French rouler

Romanian

rostogoli

/rostogoˈli/

other source · of uncertain origin

Catalan

rodolar

/ruduˈla/

inherited

From spoken Latin *ROTULĀRE, a verb made on ROTULUM.

English

roll

/ɹoʊl/

from Latin/French · Old French roller

English → Italianto rollrotolareCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

ROTULUM‘little wheel, roll’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

All from ROTA 'wheel': French and Italian roll with the diminutive ROTULUS (a little wheel, then a scroll), Spanish with ROTĀRE itself.

English relatives: role, control, rotate, rotation

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In a sentence

  • esLa pelota rodó debajo del coche.
  • frLe ballon a roulé sous la voiture.
  • itLa palla è rotolata sotto la macchina.
  • ptA bola rolou para baixo do carro.
  • roMingea s-a rostogolit sub mașină.
  • caLa pilota va rodolar sota el cotxe.
  • enThe ball rolled under the car.

The Latin family

ROT-· wheel, roll

ROTA 'wheel' gave rueda, roue, ruota, and its diminutive ROTULUS 'little wheel, roll of parchment' rolled into roll — and, via the actors' scrolls of French theatre, into role. Spanish has rollo beside learned rótulo 'sign, label'. Portuguese and Catalan roda and Romanian roată (with its oa) carry on the wheel.

  • ROTAMwheel

    esruedafrroueitruotaptrodaroroatăcaroda

  • ROTUNDUMwheel-shaped, round

    esredondofrronditrotondoptredondororotundcarodóenround

  • ROTULUMlittle wheel; scroll

    esrollofrrouleauitrotoloptrolororuloucarotlleenroll

  • ROTĀREto turn like a wheel

    esrodaritruotareptrodarcarodarenrotate

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