Rossel Ros"sel noun Light land; rosland. [ Obsolete or Prov. Eng.]
Mortimer.
Rossel current Ros"sel cur`rent [ From Rossel Island, in the Louisiade Archipelago.] (Oceanography) A portion of the southern equatorial current flowing westward from the Fiji Islands to New Guinea.
[ Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Rossel current Ros"sel cur`rent [ From Rossel Island, in the Louisiade Archipelago.] (Oceanography) A portion of the southern equatorial current flowing westward from the Fiji Islands to New Guinea.
Rosselly Ros"sel·ly adjective Loose; light. [ Obsolete]
Mortimer.
Rost Rost noun See Roust . [ Scot.]
Jamieson.
Rostel Ros"tel noun [ Latin
rostellum , dim. of
rostrum a beak: confer French
rostelle .]
same as Rostellum .
Rostellar Ros·tel"lar adjective Pertaining to a rostellum.
Rostellate Ros"tel·late adjective [ New Latin
rostellatus .]
Having a rostellum, or small beak; terminating in a beak.
Rostelliform Ros·tel"li·form adjective Having the form of a rostellum, or small beak.
Rostellum Ros·tel"lum noun ;
plural Rostella . [ Latin See
Rostel .]
A small beaklike process or extension of some part; a small rostrum; as, the rostellum of the stigma of violets, or of the operculum of many mosses; the rostellum on the head of a tapeworm.
Roster Ros"ter noun [ Perhaps a corruption of
register ; or confer
roll .]
(Mil.) A register or roll showing the order in which officers, enlisted men, companies, or regiments are called on to serve.
Rostra Ros"tra noun plural See Rostrum , 2.
Rostral Ros"tral adjective [ Latin
rostralis , from
rostrum a beak; confer French
rostral .]
Of or pertaining to the beak or snout of an animal, or the beak of a ship; resembling a rostrum, esp., the rostra at Rome, or their decorations. [ Monuments] adorned with rostral crowns and naval ornaments.
Addison.
Rostrate, Rostrated Ros"trate, Ros"tra·ted adjective [ Latin
rostratus , from
rostrum a beak. See
Rostrum .]
1. Having a process resembling the beak of a bird; beaked; rostellate. 2. Furnished or adorned with beaks; as, rostrated galleys.
Rostrifera Ros·trif"e·ra noun plural [ New Latin , from Latin
rostrum beak +
ferre to bear.]
(Zoology) A division of pectinibranchiate gastropods, having the head prolonged into a snout which is not retractile.
Rostriform Ros"tri·form adjective [ Latin
rostrum a beak +
-form : confer French
rostrifarme .]
Having the form of a beak.
Rostrulum Ros"tru·lum (-tru*lŭm)
noun ;
plural Rostrula . [ New Latin , dim. of Latin
rostrum a beak.]
A little rostrum, or beak, as of an insect.
Rostrum Ros"trum (-trŭm)
noun ;
plural Latin
Rostra , English
Rostrums . [ Latin , beak, ship's beak, from
rodere ,
rosum , to gnaw. See
Rodent .]
1. The beak or head of a ship. 2. plural (
Rostra )
(Rom. Antiq.) The Beaks; the stage or platform in the forum where orations, pleadings, funeral harangues, etc., were delivered; -- so called because after the Latin war, it was adorned with the beaks of captured vessels; later, applied also to other platforms erected in Rome for the use of public orators. 3. Hence, a stage for public speaking; the pulpit or platform occupied by an orator or public speaker. Myself will mount the rostrum in his favor.
Addison. 4. (Zoology) (a) Any beaklike prolongation, esp. of the head of an animal, as the beak of birds. (b) The beak, or sucking mouth parts, of Hemiptera. (c) The snout of a gastropod mollusk. See Illust. of Littorina . (d) The anterior, often spinelike, prolongation of the carapace of a crustacean, as in the lobster and the prawn. 5. (Botany) Same as Rostellum . 6. (Old Chem.) The pipe to convey the distilling liquor into its receiver in the common alembic. Quincy. 7. (Surg.) A pair of forceps of various kinds, having a beaklike form. [ Obsolete]
Coxe.
Rosulate Ro"su·late adjective [ New Latin
rosulatus , from Latin
rosa a rose.]
(Botany) Arranged in little roselike clusters; -- said of leaves and bracts.
Rosy Ros"y adjective [
Compar. Rosier ;
superl. Rosiest .]
Resembling a rose in color, form, or qualities; blooming; red; blushing; also, adorned with roses. A smile that glowed
Celestial rosy -red, love's proper hue.
Milton. While blooming youth and gay delight
Sit thy rosy cheeks confessed.
Prior. »
Rosy is sometimes used in the formation of self...xplaining compounde; as,
rosy -bosomed,
rosy - colored,
rosy -crowned,
rosy -fingered,
rosy - tinted.
Rosy cross .
See the Note under Rosicrucian , noun
Rot Rot intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Rotted ;
present participle & verbal noun Rotting .] [ Middle English
rotien , Anglo-Saxon
rotian ; akin to Dutch
rotten , Prov. German
rotten , Old High German
rozz...n , German
rösten to steep flax, Icelandic
rotna to rot, Swedish
ruttna , Danish
raadne , Icelandic
rottin rotten. √117. Confer
Ret ,
Rotten .]
1. To undergo a process common to organic substances by which they lose the cohesion of their parts and pass through certain chemical changes, giving off usually in some stages of the process more or less offensive odors; to become decomposed by a natural process; to putrefy; to decay. Fixed like a plant on his peculiar spot,
To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot .
Pope. 2. Figuratively: To perish slowly; to decay; to die; to become corrupt. Four of the sufferers were left to rot in irons.
Macaulay. Rot , poor bachelor, in your club.
Thackeray. Syn. -- To putrefy; corrupt; decay; spoil.
Rot Rot transitive verb 1. To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes; as, to rot vegetable fiber. 2. To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.
Rot Rot noun 1. Process of rotting; decay; putrefaction. 2. (Botany) A disease or decay in fruits, leaves, or wood, supposed to be caused by minute fungi. See Bitter rot , Black rot , etc., below. 3. [ Confer German
rotz glanders.]
A fatal distemper which attacks sheep and sometimes other animals. It is due to the presence of a parasitic worm in the liver or gall bladder. See 1st Fluke , 2. His cattle must of rot and murrain die.
Milton. Bitter rot (Botany) ,
a disease of apples, caused by the fungus Glæosporium fructigenum . F. Latin Scribner. --
Black rot (Botany) ,
a disease of grapevines, attacking the leaves and fruit, caused by the fungus Læstadia Bidwellii . F. Latin Scribner. --
Dry rot (Botany) See under Dry . --
Grinder's rot (Medicine) See under Grinder . --
Potato rot .
(Botany) See under Potato . --
White rot (Botany) ,
a disease of grapes, first appearing in whitish pustules on the fruit, caused by the fungus Coniothyrium diplodiella . F. Latin Scribner.
Rota Ro"ta noun [ Latin
rota wheel. The name is said to allude to the design of the floor of the room in which the court used to sit, which was that of a wheel. See
Rotary .]
1. An ecclesiastical court of Rome, called also Rota Romana , that takes cognizance of suits by appeal. It consists of twelve members. 2. (Eng. Hist.) A short-lived political club established in 1659 by J.Harrington to inculcate the democratic doctrine of election of the principal officers of the state by ballot, and the annual retirement of a portion of Parliament.
Rota Ro"ta noun (Mus.) A species of zither, played like a guitar, used in the Middle Ages in church music; -- written also rotta .
Rotacism Ro"ta·cism noun See Rhotacism .
Rotal Ro"tal adjective Relating to wheels or to rotary motion; rotary. [ R.]
Rotalite Ro"ta·lite noun [ Latin
rota wheel +
-lite .]
(Paleon.) Any fossil foraminifer of the genus Rotalia , abundant in the chalk formation. See Illust. under Rhizopod .
Rotary Ro"ta·ry adjective [ Latin
rota a wheel. See
Roll ,
v. , and confer
barouche ,
Rodomontade ,
Roué ,
Round ,
adjective ,
Rowel .]
Turning, as a wheel on its axis; pertaining to, or resembling, the motion of a wheel on its axis; rotatory; as, rotary motion. Rotary engine ,
steam engine in which the continuous rotation of the shaft is produced by the direct action of the steam upon rotating devices which serve as pistons, instead of being derived from a reciprocating motion, as in the ordinary engine; a steam turbine; -- called also rotatory engine . --
Rotary pump ,
a pump in which the fluid is impelled by rotating devices which take the place of reciprocating buckets or pistons. --
Rotary shears ,
shears, as for cloth, metal, etc., in which revolving sharp-edged or sharp-cornered wheels do the cutting. --
Rotary valve ,
a valve acting by continuous or partial rotation, as in the four-way cock.
Rotascope Ro"ta·scope noun [ Latin
rota a wheel +
-scope .]
Same as Gyroscope , 1.
Rotate Ro"tate adjective [ Latin
rotatus , past participle of
rotare to turn round like a wheel, from
rota wheel. See
Rotary , and confer
Roue .]
Having the parts spreading out like a wheel; wheel-shaped; as, a rotate spicule or scale; a rotate corolla, i.e. , a monopetalous corolla with a flattish border, and no tube or a very short one.
Rotate Ro"tate intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Rotated ;
present participle & verbal noun Rotating .]
1. To turn, as a wheel, round an axis; to revolve. 2. To perform any act, function, or operation in turn, to hold office in turn; as, to rotate in office.
Rotate Ro"tate intransitive verb 1. To cause to turn round or revolve, as a wheel around an axle. 2. To cause to succeed in turn; esp., to cause to succeed some one, or to be succeeded by some one, in office. [ Colloq.] "Both, after a brief service, were
rotated out of office."
Harper's Mag.
Rotated Ro"ta·ted adjective Turned round, as a wheel; also, wheel-shaped; rotate.
Rotation Ro·ta"tion noun [ Latin
rotatio : confer French
rotation .]
1. The act of turning, as a wheel or a solid body on its axis, as distinguished from the progressive motion of a revolving round another body or a distant point; thus, the daily turning of the earth on its axis is a rotation ; its annual motion round the sun is a revolution . 2. Any return or succesion in a series. Moment of rotation .
See Moment of inertia , under Moment . --
Rotation in office ,
the practice of changing public officers at frequent intervals by discharges and substitutions. --
Rotation of crops ,
the practices of cultivating an orderly succession of different crops on the same land.
Rotation Ro·ta"tion adjective Pertaining to, or resulting from, rotation; of the nature of, or characterized by, rotation; as, rotational velocity.
Rotative Ro"ta·tive adjective [ Confer French
rotatif .]
turning, as a wheel; rotary; rotational. This high rotative velocity of the sun must cause an equatorial rise of the solar atmosphere.
Siemens. Rotative engine ,
a steam engine in which the reciprocating motion of the piston is transformed into a continuous rotary motion, as by means of a connecting rod, a working beam and crank, or an oscillating cylinder.
Rotator Ro·ta"tor noun [ Latin ]
1. (Anat.) that which gives a rotary or rolling motion, as a muscle which partially rotates or turns some part on its axis. 2. (Metal.) A revolving reverberatory furnace.
Rotatoria Ro`ta·to"ri·a noun plural [ New Latin ]
(Zoology) Same as Rotifera .
Rotatory Ro"ta·to·ry adjective [ Confer French
rotatoire . See
Rotate ,
Rotary .]
1. Turning as on an axis; rotary. 2. Going in a circle; following in rotation or succession; as, rotatory assembles. Burke. 3. (Opt.) Producing rotation of the plane of polarization; as, the rotatory power of bodies on light. See the Note under polarization . Nichol.
Rotatory Ro"ta·to·ry noun (Zoology) A rotifer. [ R.]
Kirby.
Rotche Rotche noun (Zoology) A very small arctic sea bird ( Mergulus alle , or Alle alle ) common on both coasts of the Atlantic in winter; -- called also little auk , dovekie , rotch , rotchie , and sea dove .
Rotchet Rotch"et noun (Zoology) The European red gurnard ( Trigla pini ).
Rote Rote noun A root. [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Rote Rote noun [ Middle English
rote , probably of German origin; confer Middle High German
rotte , Old High German
rota ,
hrota , Late Latin
chrotta . Confer
Crowd a kind of violin.]
(Mus.) 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. Well could he sing and play on a rote .
Chaucer. extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds, and rotes .
Sir W. Scott.
Rote Rote noun [ Confer
Rut roaring.]
The noise produced by the surf of the sea dashing upon the shore. See Rut .
Rote Rote noun [ Old French
rote , French
route , road, path. See
Route , and confer
Rut a furrow,
Routine .]
A frequent repetition of forms of speech without attention to the meaning; mere repetition; as, to learn rules by rote . Swift. till he the first verse could [ i. e. , knew] all by rote .
Chaucer. Thy love did read by rote , and could not spell.
Shak.
Rote Rote transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Roted ;
present participle & verbal noun Roting .]
To learn or repeat by rote. [ Obsolete]
Shak.
Rote Rote intransitive verb To go out by rotation or succession; to rotate. [ Obsolete]
Z. Grey.
Rotella Ro·tel"la noun [ New Latin , dim. of
rota wheel; confer Late Latin
rotella a little whell.]
(Zoology) Any one of numerous species of small, polished, brightcolored gastropods of the genus Rotella , native of tropical seas.
Use the search box below if you want to search in Websters only, use the search box at the right to search all of Enyclo.
