Link Centre Dictionary

role

UK/ɹəʊl/ US/ɹəʊɫ/ common

noun

1.

the actions and activities assigned to or required or expected of a person or group

  • “the function of a teacher”
  • “the government must do its part”
  • “play its role”
Synonyms
2.

an actor''s portrayal of someone in a play

  • “she played the part of Desdemona”
Synonyms
3.

what something is used for

  • “the function of an auger is to bore holes”
  • “ballet is beautiful but what use is it?”
Synonyms
4.

normal or customary activity of a person in a particular social setting

  • “what is your role on the team?”

Origin

From French rôle, from Middle French rolle, from Old French role, from Medieval Latin rotulus. Doublet of roll and rotulus.

Phrases

  • bit role
  • breeches role
  • gender role
  • massively multiplayer online role-playing game
  • pants role
  • play a role
  • role activity diagram
  • role conflict

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.