rota
1 Americannoun
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Chiefly British.
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a round or rotation of duties; a period of work or duty taken in rotation with others.
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an agenda or circuit of sporting events, as a round of golf tournaments, played in different localities throughout the year.
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a roster.
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Official Name Sacra Romana Rota or Sacred Roman Rota. (initial capital letter) the ecclesiastical tribunal in Rome, constituting the court of final appeal.
noun
noun
noun
noun
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.
Vocabulary lists containing rota
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Routine tasks - assigned on a rota 24 hours a day, seven days a week - included cooking, cleaning, ironing, shopping, looking after Brain's young daughter, and walking his dog.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Most parents lose sleep over the amount of piecemeal work required to cobble together a summer schedule; very few relish the planning and spreadsheets and carpool rota involved in keeping their kids safe and occupied.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026
Amissah and his Ghanaian crewmates had devised a secret rota to get some sleep.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
A man due to provide security at the synagogue attacked by a knifeman had only avoided being there due to a late rota swap, his father-in-law said.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2025
We had to maintain a strict rota to determine whose turn it was to play the Federals, as no one wanted to enact their part.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
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"By working together and taking the necessary precautions, we can help protect our families, neighbors and community. We pray for the safety of our people," Rota Mayor Aubry Hocog had said Sunday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026
US forces use the Rota naval base and Moron air base in southern Spain under an agreement signed in 1953 under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.
From Barron's ● Mar. 4, 2026
“Everything is harder,” said Njord Rota, a former military pilot who tested experimental helicopters for Lockheed Martin and now helps run Ravco, a high-altitude helicopter training school in Colorado.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
"I am focused on being a better person, and I am very sorry for your losses," said the single mother, as quoted by La Silla Rota.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
United States scientists have had some encouraging early results with the melon fly and the oriental and Mediterranean fruit flies in laboratory tests in Hawaii and field tests on the remote island of Rota.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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