rot

See also: Rot, ROT, rót, ròt, rôt, röt, and rot-

Contents

English

Etymology

From Middle English rotten, roten, from Old English rotian (“to rot, become corrupted, ulcerate, putrefy”), from Proto-Germanic *rutōną (“to rot”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewd- (“to tear”). Cognate with West Frisian rotsje (“to rot”), Dutch rotten (“to rot”), German verrotten (“to rot”) and regional rößen (“to steep flax”), Icelandic rotna (“to rot”). See rotten.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹɒt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): [ɹɑt]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ɹɔt/
• Rhymes: -ɒt

Verb

rot (third-person singular simple present rots, present participle rotting, simple past and past participle rotted)

1. (intransitive) To suffer decomposition due to biological action, especially by fungi or bacteria.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope

     Fixed like a plant on his peculiar spot, / To draw nutrition, propagate, and rot.

2. (intransitive) To decline in function or utility.
3. (intransitive) To deteriorate in any way.

   I hope they all rot in prison for what they've done.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Macaulay

     Four of the sufferers were left to rot in irons.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Thackeray

     Rot, poor bachelor, in your club.

4. (transitive) To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes.

   to rot vegetable fiber

5. (transitive, figuratively) To spend a long period of time (in an unpleasant place).

   to rot in jail

   to rot in prison

   to rot in Hell

6. (transitive) To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.

Synonyms

• putrefy

Derived terms

• brown rot
• potter's rot

Translations

to decay

• Arabic: أَفْسَدَ‎ (ʾafsada), فَسَدَ‎ (fasada)

  Moroccan Arabic: خْمج‎ (ḵməj)

• Armenian: փտել (hy) (pʿtel), նեխել (hy) (nexel)
• Assamese: গেলা (gela)
• Azerbaijani: çürümək (az)
• Basque: usteldu
• Belarusian: гніць impf (hnicʹ)
• Breton: breinañ (br)
• Bulgarian: гни́я (bg) impf (gníja)
• Catalan: podrir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 爛, 烂 (laan⁶)

  Mandarin: 腐化 (zh) (fǔhuà), 腐壞 (zh), 腐坏 (zh) (fǔhuài), 腐爛 (zh), 腐烂 (zh) (fǔlàn)

• Cornish: pedri, breyna
• Czech: hnít impf
• Danish: rådne
• Dutch: rotten (nl), vergaan (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: mädäntyä (fi), mädätä (fi)
• French: pourrir (fr)
• Galician: podrecer (gl)
• Georgian: ლპობა (lṗoba), დალპობა (dalṗoba), ჩალპობა (čalṗoba), ხრწნა (xrc̣na)
• German: verrotten (de), verderben (de), faulen (de), verfaulen (de)
• Greek: σαπίζω (el) (sapízo)

  Ancient: σήπομαι (sḗpomai)

• Hungarian: rohad (hu), rothad (hu)
• Italian: marcire (it), putrefarsi
• Japanese: 腐る (ja) (くさる, kusaru)
• Khmer: រលួយ (km) (rɔluəy)
• Korean: 썩다 (ko) (sseokda), 부패하다 (ko) (bupaehada)
• Latgalian: pyut, trupēt

• Latin: pūtescō, putrefaciō, tābescō
• Latvian: pūt (lv)
• Lithuanian: pūti
• Macedonian: гние impf (gnie)
• Maori: whakapopo
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: гнити impf (gniti)

• Persian: پوسیدن‎ (fa) (pusidan), گندیدن‎ (fa) (gandidan)
• Polish: gnić (pl) impf
• Portuguese: putrefazer, apodrecer (pt)
• Quechua: ismuy (qu)
• Romanian: putrezi (ro), descompune (ro)
• Russian: гнить (ru) impf (gnitʹ), сгнить (ru) pf (sgnitʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: трулити impf

  Roman: truliti (sh) impf

• Slovak: hniť impf
• Slovene: gniti impf
• Spanish: pudrir (es), podrir (es)
• Swedish: ruttna (sv)
• Tajik: вайрон шудан (vayron šudan), пӯсидан (püsidan)
• Thai: ผุ (th) (pù)
• Tibetan: རུལ (rul)
• Turkish: çürümek (tr)
• Ukrainian: гни́ти impf (hnýty)
• Uzbek: chirimoq (uz)
• Vietnamese: rữa (vi), rã (vi)
• Walloon: pouri (wa)
• Welsh: pydru (cy), braenu, madru (cy)

Noun

rot (countable and uncountable, plural rots)

1. The process of becoming rotten; putrefaction.
2. Any of several diseases in which breakdown of tissue occurs.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

     His cattle must of rot and murrain die.

3. Verbal nonsense.

Synonyms

• (nonsense): See also Thesaurus:nonsense

Translations

process of becoming rotten

• Latin: cariēs f

• Spanish: putrefacción (es), podre (es)

verbal nonsense

• Maori: kohe

Anagrams

• ORT, OTR, RTO, TOR, TRO, Tor, ort, tor

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Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch rot, dialectal form of rat.

Noun

rot (plural rotte)

1. rat

See also

• muis

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Alemannic German

Alternative forms

• rout, ruat, ròt, röts

Etymology

From Middle High German rōt (“red, red-haired”), from Old High German rōt (“red, scarlet, purple-red, brown-red, yellow-red”), from Proto-Germanic *raudaz. Cognate with German rot, Dutch rood, English red, West Frisian read, Danish rød.

Adjective

rot

1. (Formazza) red

References

• “rot” in Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin ructus.

Noun

rot m (plural rots)

1. belch

Related terms

• rotar

Further reading

• “rot” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɔt/
• Rhymes: -ɔt

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

You can help Wiktionary by providing a proper etymology.

Adjective

rot (comparative rotter, superlative rotst)

1. rotten, spoiled, decayed, putrid
2. rotten, tedious, unkind, mean

Inflection

Inflection of rot
uninflected	rot
inflected	rotte
comparative	rotter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		rot	rotter	het rotst het rotste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	rotte	rottere	rotste
	n. sing.	rot	rotter	rotste
	plural	rotte	rottere	rotste
definite		rotte	rottere	rotste
partitive		rots	rotters	—

Noun

rot n (plural rotten, diminutive rotje n)

1. rot, something rotten, something rotting

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch rotte.

Noun

rot f (plural rotten, diminutive rotje n)

1. (dialectal, Northern) Alternative form of rat.

Derived terms

• oude rot
• landrot

Etymology 3

From Middle Dutch rote.

Noun

rot n, f (plural rotten, diminutive rotje n)

1. (military) a file (of men)
2. (obsolete) multitude, band, throng

   Synonyms: drom, massa, menigte, schare

Anagrams

• tor

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French

Etymology

From Latin ructus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁo/
• Homophones: rhô, ros, rôt

Noun

rot m (plural rots)

1. (colloquial) belch, burp

Synonyms

• renvoi

Related terms

• roter

Further reading

• “rot” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Friulian

Etymology

From Latin ruptus.

Adjective

rot (feminine rote)

1. broken

Derived terms

• rote

Related terms

• rompi
• roture

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German

Alternative forms

• roth (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German rōt (“red, red-haired”), from Old High German rōt (“red, scarlet, purple-red, brown-red, yellow-red”), from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from *h₁rewdʰ-. Compare Low German root, rod, rot, Dutch rood, English red, West Frisian read, Danish rød.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /roːt/, [ʁoːt(ʰ)], [roːt]

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːt

Adjective

rot (comparative röter or roter, superlative am rötesten or am rotesten)

1. red (colour)
2. (politics) red; pertaining to Marxism in the widest sense; social democratic; socialist; communist
   1. (politics, Germany, in particular) pertaining to the social democratic SPD or the more rigidly socialist Linke
3. (possibly mildly offensive) red-haired
4. (historical, possibly offensive) redskin; Native American; Indian

Declension

Positive forms of rot

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist rot	sie ist rot	es ist rot	sie sind rot
strong declension (without article)	nominative	roter	rote	rotes	rote
	genitive	roten	roter	roten	roter
	dative	rotem	roter	rotem	roten
	accusative	roten	rote	rotes	rote
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der rote	die rote	das rote	die roten
	genitive	des roten	der roten	des roten	der roten
	dative	dem roten	der roten	dem roten	den roten
	accusative	den roten	die rote	das rote	die roten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein roter	eine rote	ein rotes	(keine) roten
	genitive	eines roten	einer roten	eines roten	(keiner) roten
	dative	einem roten	einer roten	einem roten	(keinen) roten
	accusative	einen roten	eine rote	ein rotes	(keine) roten

Comparative forms of rot

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist röter	sie ist röter	es ist röter	sie sind röter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	röterer	rötere	röteres	rötere
	genitive	röteren	röterer	röteren	röterer
	dative	röterem	röterer	röterem	röteren
	accusative	röteren	rötere	röteres	rötere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der rötere	die rötere	das rötere	die röteren
	genitive	des röteren	der röteren	des röteren	der röteren
	dative	dem röteren	der röteren	dem röteren	den röteren
	accusative	den röteren	die rötere	das rötere	die röteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein röterer	eine rötere	ein röteres	(keine) röteren
	genitive	eines röteren	einer röteren	eines röteren	(keiner) röteren
	dative	einem röteren	einer röteren	einem röteren	(keinen) röteren
	accusative	einen röteren	eine rötere	ein röteres	(keine) röteren

Comparative forms of rot

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist roter	sie ist roter	es ist roter	sie sind roter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	roterer	rotere	roteres	rotere
	genitive	roteren	roterer	roteren	roterer
	dative	roterem	roterer	roterem	roteren
	accusative	roteren	rotere	roteres	rotere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der rotere	die rotere	das rotere	die roteren
	genitive	des roteren	der roteren	des roteren	der roteren
	dative	dem roteren	der roteren	dem roteren	den roteren
	accusative	den roteren	die rotere	das rotere	die roteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein roterer	eine rotere	ein roteres	(keine) roteren
	genitive	eines roteren	einer roteren	eines roteren	(keiner) roteren
	dative	einem roteren	einer roteren	einem roteren	(keinen) roteren
	accusative	einen roteren	eine rotere	ein roteres	(keine) roteren

Superlative forms of rot

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist am rötesten	sie ist am rötesten	es ist am rötesten	sie sind am rötesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	rötester	röteste	rötestes	röteste
	genitive	rötesten	rötester	rötesten	rötester
	dative	rötestem	rötester	rötestem	rötesten
	accusative	rötesten	röteste	rötestes	röteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der röteste	die röteste	das röteste	die rötesten
	genitive	des rötesten	der rötesten	des rötesten	der rötesten
	dative	dem rötesten	der rötesten	dem rötesten	den rötesten
	accusative	den rötesten	die röteste	das röteste	die rötesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein rötester	eine röteste	ein rötestes	(keine) rötesten
	genitive	eines rötesten	einer rötesten	eines rötesten	(keiner) rötesten
	dative	einem rötesten	einer rötesten	einem rötesten	(keinen) rötesten
	accusative	einen rötesten	eine röteste	ein rötestes	(keine) rötesten

Superlative forms of rot

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist am rotesten	sie ist am rotesten	es ist am rotesten	sie sind am rotesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	rotester	roteste	rotestes	roteste
	genitive	rotesten	rotester	rotesten	rotester
	dative	rotestem	rotester	rotestem	rotesten
	accusative	rotesten	roteste	rotestes	roteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der roteste	die roteste	das roteste	die rotesten
	genitive	des rotesten	der rotesten	des rotesten	der rotesten
	dative	dem rotesten	der rotesten	dem rotesten	den rotesten
	accusative	den rotesten	die roteste	das roteste	die rotesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein rotester	eine roteste	ein rotestes	(keine) rotesten
	genitive	eines rotesten	einer rotesten	eines rotesten	(keiner) rotesten
	dative	einem rotesten	einer rotesten	einem rotesten	(keinen) rotesten
	accusative	einen rotesten	eine roteste	ein rotestes	(keine) rotesten

Synonyms

• (red-haired): rothaarig
• (redskin): rothäutig

Derived terms

• feuerrot
• Röte
• röten
• rot-grün
• rothaarig
• Rothaut
• Rotkehlchen
• rötlich
• rot-rot
• rot-rot-grün
• rot sehen
• Rotstift
• Rötung
• Rotwein

 

Related terms

• Rot

Further reading

• rot in Duden online

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German Low German

Adjective

rot

1. Alternative spelling of root

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Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɔːt/
• Rhymes: -ɔːt

Etymology 1

Noun

rot n (genitive singular rots, no plural)

1. unconsciousness, insensibility

Declension

declension of rot

n-s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	rot	rotið
accusative	rot	rotið
dative	roti	rotinu
genitive	rots	rotsins

Related terms

• rota

Etymology 2

Noun

rot n (genitive singular rots, nominative plural rot)

1. rot, decay, putrefaction

Declension

declension of rot

n-s	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	rot	rotið	rot	rotin
accusative	rot	rotið	rot	rotin
dative	roti	rotinu	rotum	rotunum
genitive	rots	rotsins	rota	rotanna

Related terms

• rotna
• rotinn
• rota

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Middle English

Etymology 1

From Late Old English rōt.

Noun

rot

1. Alternative form of rote (“root”)

Etymology 2

From Old English rotian.

Verb

rot

1. Alternative form of roten (“to rot”)

Etymology 3

A back-formation from roten (“to rot”).

Alternative forms

• rote, root, rotte, rott

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rɔt/, /rɔːt/

Noun

rot (uncountable)

1. Rotting or decomposition; the situation where something rots.
2. Any disease which causes decaying and decomposition in humans.
3. A disease that afflicts sheep; footrot, the rot.

Descendants

• English: rot

References

• “rō̆t (n.)” in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-02-24.

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds.

Noun

rot m, f (definite singular rota or roten, indefinite plural røtter, definite plural røttene)

1. root (part of a plant normally below ground level)
2. root (of a tooth)
3. root (of a hair)

Derived terms

• gulrot
• kvadratrot
• kålrot
• pælerot
• rotbløyte
• rotfrukt

 

Etymology 2

Verb

rot

1. imperative of rote

References

• “rot” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ruːt/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds. Akin to English root.

Noun

rot f (definite singular rota, indefinite plural røter, definite plural røtene)

1. root (of a plant)
2. root (of a tooth)
3. root (of a hair)

Derived terms

• gulrot
• kvadratrot
• kålrot
• rotfrukt

Etymology 2

From Old Norse rót

Noun

rot n (definite singular rotet, uncountable)

1. a mess, untidiness, chaos

   Det er for mykje rot på loftet. Me må rydda.

   The attic is a mess. We have to tidy it up.

   Når me prøver å samarbeida med dei, blir det berre rot.

   When we try working with them, it just turns into chaos.

References

• “rot” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *raudaz.

Adjective

rōt

1. red

Inflection

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: rôot
  • Dutch: rood

Further reading

• “rōt”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

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Old High German

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from *h₁rewdʰ-.

Adjective

rōt

1. red

Descendants

• Middle High German: rōt
  • Alemannic German:

    Italian Walser: rot, rout, ròt, röts

  • Central Franconian:

    Hunsrik: rod

  • German: rot
  • Luxembourgish: rout
  • Rhine Franconian:

    Pennsylvania German: rot

  • Vilamovian: rut
  • Yiddish: רויט‎ (royt)

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Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts.

Noun

rōt f

1. root

Declension

Declension of rōt (consonant stem)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	rōt	rōtin	rø̄ter	rø̄trina(r), -rena(r)
accusative	rōt	rōtina, -ena	rø̄ter	rø̄trina(r), -rena(r)
dative	rōt	rōtinni, -inne	rōtum, -om	rōtumin, -omen
genitive	rōta(r)	rōtinna(r)	rōta	rōtanna

Descendants

• Swedish: rot

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Pennsylvania German

Etymology

From Old High German rōt, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz. Compare German rot, Dutch rood, English red.

Adjective

rot

1. red

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Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish rōt, from Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds.

Pronunciation

• audio

  (file)

Noun

rot c

1. root; the part of a plant under the surface.
2. the part of a tooth extending into the bone holding the tooth in place
3. source; an underlying cause

   Kärleken till pengar är roten till allt ont.

   The love of money is the root of all evil.

4. (mathematics) of a number n, a positive number which, when raised to a specified power, yields n; the square root is understood if no power is specified

   Kubikroten ur 27 är 3.

   The cube root of 27 is 3.

   Multiplicera med roten ur 2.

   Multiply by root 2.

5. (mathematics) a zero (of a function).
6. (mathematics) a designated node in a tree.
7. (mathematics) curl; a measure on how fast a vector field rotates: it can be described as the cross product of del and a given vectorial field
8. (computing) root directory
9. (philology) a word from which another word is derived.

Declension

Declension of rot
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	rot	roten	rötter	rötterna
Genitive	rots	rotens	rötters	rötternas

Synonyms

• källa (3)
• nollställe (5)

Related terms

• ört

See also

• rötter
• rota (sig)

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Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English road.

Noun

rot

1. road, street
   • '2003, Mühlhäusler et al., Tok Pisin texts, John Benjamins Publishing Company, page 9:

     Planti liklik rot i stap long ailan hia.

     Many little roads exist on this island.

References

Tok Pisin texts: from the beginning to the present / edited by Peter Mühlhäusler, Thomas E. Dutton, Suzanne Romaine. / John Benjamins Publishing Company / Copyright 2003 / →ISBN / page 106

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Vilamovian

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

rōt f (plural rota)

1. installment (a kind of payment)