roster

American  

[ros-ter] / ˈrɒs tər /

noun

• rosters
  plural

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

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roster ¹ British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (tr) to place on a roster

roster ² British  

/ ˈrɒstə /

noun

1. dialect a rascal

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Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• rosters
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of roster

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

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Explanation

If you see your name on the roster of players for the new softball team, then congratulations! Better start practicing, because you’re on the list of players who made the team. The word roster originally meant a list of the names, duties, and schedule of members of the military. That meaning is still in use, but today, a roster is more likely to be a list of players on your favorite team, a list of artists whose artwork appears regularly in a certain gallery, or a list of participants, such as an airline that posts its roster of flight crew members for the red-eye to Phoenix.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

roster rosters

Despite their roster of stars and their unprecedented payroll, they stood no chance against the younger, hungrier and more tenacious Brewers, who overwhelmed their wealthier opponent with a relentless energy the Dodgers couldn’t match.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Dalton Rushing, who started just five fewer games behind the plate than Smith this season, is injured and not on the roster.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

It was that Texas spent all offseason dedicated to building the perfect football machine around the perfect football prospect—a roster so refined they wouldn’t be in this kind of do-or-die situation to begin with.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

The Dodgers plan to carry a roster of 13 pitchers and 13 position players in the NLCS, Roberts said, one more pitcher and one fewer position player than last round.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

On a piece of paper, he drew up a roster of buddies, and he wrote down the order of entry, the sequence in which they would be inserted into the building.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston

Since then, the City Section established a rule that teams must exchange rosters before games to verify that players are eligible, known as the “Hawkins rule.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

A look at players from local schools on Ivy League rosters:

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

It was also something the teams had to think about when they were whittling down their rosters to 53 players last week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

College football kickers have long accepted their place as afterthoughts on their own rosters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

We sat down and got stat charts and rosters ready until the basketball teams came in and warmed up.

From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia

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Related Words

• agenda
• inventory
• record
• schedule
• table

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