roster

[ ros-ter ]

noun

1. a list of persons or groups, as of military personnel or units with their turns or periods of duty.

   Synonyms: record, panel, slate, listing

2. any list, roll, or register:

   a roster of famous scientists; a roster of coming events.

   Synonyms: record, panel, slate, listing

roster

¹

/ ˈrɒstə /

noun

1. a list or register, esp one showing the order of people enrolled for duty
2. marketing the list of advertising agencies regularly used by a particular company

verb

1. tr to place on a roster

roster

²

/ ˈrɒstə /

noun

1. dialect.
   a rascal

Word History and Origins

Origin of roster¹

1720–30; < Dutch rooster list, roster, literally, gridiron, in reference to the ruled paper used, equivalent to roost ( en ) to roast + -er -er ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of roster¹

C18: from Dutch rooster grating or list (the lined paper looking like a grid)

Example Sentences

This “southpaw advantage” is substantial enough to generate a large surplus of lefty pitchers on rosters and shape the game in profound ways.

From FiveThirtyEight

The WNBA has only 140-something roster spots filled, total, and just 12 teams to feature a handful of players with primary roles.

From FiveThirtyEight

To further bolster its roster, the team even lured free agent Artemi Panarin from Columbus and signed Jacob Trouba, whom it had acquired in a trade with Winnipeg, to a seven-year deal.

From FiveThirtyEight

Also, that roster might not exactly be at full strength right away.

From FiveThirtyEight

Scroll, which now has 14 employees, has a long roster of other partners to tap into.

From Digiday

That goes for its contemporary membership roster as well as for the photographers represented in the exhibition.

From The Daily Beast

In the states that have set up exchanges—a roster that includes most of the larger states—the subsidies would continue.

From The Daily Beast

That explains the impressive roster of guest stars the series has racked up of politicians playing themselves.

From The Daily Beast

An NFL season is about to start with the first openly gay player on a team roster.

From The Daily Beast

An impressive roster of interested parties for a website that has only been around for a day.

From The Daily Beast

Wà ka sa plantilya kay kaswal pa ka, You are not in the roster because you are a temporary employee.

From Project Gutenberg

The Orderly-Sergeant looked over his roster, and then walked down to Si's residence.

From Project Gutenberg

Printed on the letterheads, it gave added solidity and added substantiality to the bank's roster.

From Project Gutenberg

The system of using lecturers seems to help considerably to swell the Ku Klux roster.

From Project Gutenberg

Time was pressing, for rumours were in the air that the regiment was well up the roster for foreign service.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• agenda
• inventory
• record
• schedule
• table

More About Roster

What does roster mean?

A roster is a list or register of people or things.

Roster is perhaps most commonly used to refer to the official list of players on a sports team, but it can refer to many other things, including lists of military personnel and lists of academic classes.

Example: We have spots on our roster for 26 players.

Where does roster come from?

Roster has been on the roster of the English language since at least the 1720s. It comes from the Dutch word rooster, meaning “list” or “grid,” a reference to the lined paper used for such lists. (The English word rooster, meaning “a male chicken,” shares a common root.)

Roster is used in military contexts to refer to a list of units or soldiers and their duties. The meaning is much the same in sports, in which a roster lists a team’s players and their positions. In educational contexts, a roster of classes can refer to a list of classes that a particular student is taking, or to a list of all classes available. Roster can also be used more generally to refer to any list of anything, especially when it is comprehensive or official, including people, events, or other things, as in a roster of celebrities or a roster of new restaurants.

Did you know ... ?

What are some synonyms for roster?

• list
• register

What are some words that share a root or word element with roster? 

• roost
• rooster

What are some words that often get used in discussing roster?

• record
• slate
• listing
• head count
• team
• military
• class

How is roster used in real life?

Roster is most commonly used to refer to a list of players on an athletic team, but it is also used in many other contexts, including education and the military. In general, it can refer to a list of anything.

#orioles travel roster pic.twitter.com/Hk4LE58AY1

— Roch Kubatko (@masnRoch) March 11, 2020

Our 2020 preseason roster and technical staff have been announced. Details here: https://t.co/fPFBNVinvT pic.twitter.com/Ip4bEWTr1E

— OL Reign (@OLReign) March 9, 2020

Welcome back slugs! We’ve got a great roster of classes for spring quarter: Arab Cinema, Screenwriting for TV, Asian Americans + the Media, Found Footage, Race on Screen, Am Cinema of the 1970s and lots more!

— Film + Digital Media UC Santa Cruz (@FilmDigMedUCSC) April 1, 2019

 

Try using roster!

Is roster used correctly in the following sentence? 

Did you pick up your roster of classes yet?