English

Noun

rote ‎(uncountable)

1. 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.

   • 2009, Jim Holt, Got Poetry?

     But memorize them we did, in big painful chunks, by rote repetition.

2. 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

• rotelike
• rotely

See also

• muscle memory

Translations

Adjective

rote ‎(comparative more rote, superlative most rote)

1. 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)

1. (obsolete) To go out by rotation or succession; to rotate.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Zane Grey to this entry?)

2. (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)

1. (rare) The roar of the surf; the sound of waves breaking on the shore.

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)

1. (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

2. Synonym of crowd

Anagrams

• tore

French

Noun

rote f ‎(plural rotes)

1. rote (musical instrument)

Verb

rote

1. first-person singular present indicative of roter
2. third-person singular present indicative of roter
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of roter
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of roter
5. second-person singular imperative of roter

Anagrams

• ôter, tore

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʀoːtə/

Adjective

rote

1. strong, mixed and weak feminine singular nominative form of rot.
2. strong, mixed and weak feminine singular accusative form of rot.
3. strong plural nominative form of rot.
4. strong plural accusative form of rot.
5. weak masculine singular nominative form of rot.
6. weak neuter singular nominative form of rot.
7. weak neuter singular accusative form of rot.

Italian

Noun

rote f

1. plural of rota

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse róta.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /roːtə/

Verb

rote (present tense roter; past tense and past participle rota or rotet)

1. to untidy, to make a mess
2. (slang) to fool around (engage in casual or flirtatious sexual acts)

Derived terms

• rotet (or rotete)
• rotehue
• rotekopp

Related terms

• rot

Old French

Noun

rote f ‎(oblique plural rotes, nominative singular rote, nominative plural rotes)

1. rote (musical instrument)

Descendants

• French: rote

Portuguese

Verb

rote

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of rotar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of rotar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of rotar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of rotar

Spanish

Verb

rote

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of rotar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of rotar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of rotar.
4. 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

1. a district (of a parish or town, for the purpose of fire fighting, road maintenance, mail forwarding, social care, etc.)
2. 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!

Declension

Related terms

• brandrote
• postrote
• rotechef
• rotehjon
• rotepar

See also

• rotel

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)