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

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

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

It doesn't have Lagos's famous, and infamous, raucousness -- but neither does it have a riposte to the Lagos' film industry, known as Nollywood, or its major corporate headquarters and roster of Afrobeats stars.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

In recent years, AEW has pitched itself as an antidote to the WWE, but its roster is also almost entirely composed of independent contractors.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

Yamal suggested his move to Adidas gave him the chance to stand out from Nike's star-studded roster, while Mbappé said On would see him "surrounded by innovators who dream of the same things I do".

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

Rather it’s in the roster of offbeat characters—among them, an action-film star who has surprising literary talent; Batter’s loving, endlessly optimistic mother, a typeface designer; and Batter himself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

The first thing I did when I got to school the next morning was check the announcements board where the talent show roster would be posted.

From "The First Rule of Punk" by Celia C. Pérez

The remaining players on college rosters could still be allowed to transfer once or be drafted at any point after their season ends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 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

Here are five takeaways from the Chargers’ final tune-up before 53-man rosters must be finalized Sunday:

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

By late August, it was obvious Freeman would be among the Braves’ call-ups when rosters expanded on Sept. 1.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Here is the explanation for what was so puzzling about the rosters of the Czech and Canadian national sports teams.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• agenda
• inventory
• record
• schedule
• table