The Etymology of Role
Role and roll are the same word, separated only by spelling.βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ Both descend from Latin 'rotulus,' a diminutive of 'rota' (wheel), referring to a rolled-up piece of parchment. Old French 'rolle' carried both senses, and French 'rΓ΄le' came to mean specifically the scroll on which an actor's lines were written β and from there, the part itself. English borrowed the word in the 1610s in this theatrical sense, alongside the existing English 'roll' for any rolled object. By the 19th century 'role' was being used abstractly for any function, position, or part one plays in a system, and the metaphor has been so productive that 'role' is now one of the most common nouns in social-science writing. 'Role-play,' 'role model,' 'gender role' β all keep the theatrical metaphor live.