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• rota
  rota

  noun
• Rota
  Rota

  noun

  Nino 1911–1979, Italian composer.

rota

¹ American  

[roh-tuh] / ˈroʊ tə /

noun

1. Chiefly British.

   1. a round or rotation of duties; a period of work or duty taken in rotation with others.

   2. an agenda or circuit of sporting events, as a round of golf tournaments, played in different localities throughout the year.

2. a roster.

3. Official Name Sacra Romana Rota or Sacred Roman Rota.  (initial capital letter) the ecclesiastical tribunal in Rome, constituting the court of final appeal.

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rota ² American  

[roh-tuh] / ˈroʊ tə /

noun

1. rote.

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Rota ³ American  

[raw-tah] / ˈrɔ tɑ /

noun

1. Nino 1911–1979, Italian composer.

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Rota ¹ British  

/ ˈrəʊtə /

noun

1. RC Church the supreme ecclesiastical tribunal for judging cases brought before the Holy See

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rota ² British  

/ ˈrəʊtə /

noun

1. a register of names showing the order in which people take their turn to perform certain duties

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Etymology

Origin of rota

First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin: “wheel”

Explanation

A rota is a schedule that lists who will do a particular job and when they will do it. If you can't remember what day you're supposed to volunteer at the library, you should check the rota. You can also call a rota a roster. Win a spot on the soccer team or chess club, and you'll find your name on a rota: these are lists of team members, or schedules of upcoming competitions. At work, a rota tells you what shifts you'll be responsible for working next week. And at home, your parents' cleaning rota may assign tasks to each member of the family — just be glad it's not your turn to scour the bathroom.

Example Sentences

Among the duties mentioned was a rota for cooking and cleaning and walking his dog, Badger, along with the instruction that members of the team should do "anything" Brain asked for.

From BBC • Aug. 21, 2025

The volunteers work on a four-week rota and take time to cut and sort out all the stories from two copies of each paper while being careful not to duplicate anything.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2025

“I don’t think it should be a rota, I think this should be the national championship every single year,” said Klatt, the former Colorado quarterback turned Fox college football analyst.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2025

Why not look at this sun-splashed sanctuary the way the British Open has St. Andrews in the rotation — or rota — of courses?

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 1, 2025

She also kept doing little favours for me, like making me sandwiches, or taking on parts of my cleaning rota.

From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Related Words

• agenda
• inventory
• record
• schedule
• table