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

The future Hall of Famer wasn’t even on the roster, but he was watching from the tunnel as the final out was recorded.

Read more on Salon

The Dodgers rescued him from purgatory in Anaheim and surrounded him with a star-studded roster, and now he makes more money from pitching products than pitching baseballs.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They had their share of struggles in Shane Steichen's first two years as head coach, but people thought they had a good roster coming into this season.

Read more on BBC

But the Dodgers spent $350 million for precisely this moment—to build an invincible roster capable of withstanding any obstacle that the seven-month marathon of a major-league season could leave in their path.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

What follows is a partial roster of policies, attitudes and habits usually common to the various strains of fascism.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• agenda 
• inventory 
• record 
• schedule 
• table 

When To Use

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.