Role or roll?
role is a noun meaning “A character or part played by a performer or actor”; roll is a verb meaning “To revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on a horizontal axis…”. Use role as a noun and roll as a verb (roll is also a noun: “The act or result of rolling, or state of being rolled”). They sound the same (/ɹəʊl/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) role is about 2.6 times as common as roll.
What is the difference between role and roll?
| role | roll | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | verb, noun |
| Meaning | Dated spelling of role A character or part played by a performer or actor The expected behaviour of an individual in a society | To revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on a horizontal axis; to impel forward with a revolving motion on a supporting surface To wrap (something) round on itself; to form into a spherical or cylindrical body by causing to turn over and over The act or result of rolling, or state of being rolled |
| Example | My neighbor was the lead role in last year's village play | To roll a wheel, a ball, or a barrel |
| Forms | rôles roles | rolls, rolling, rolled |
| Pronunciation | /ɹəʊl/ [ɹəʊɫ] /ɹoʊl/ | /ɹəʊl/ [ɹɒʊɫ] /ɹɒl/ |
| In writing | 145 times per million words | 56 times per million words |
Sources: role and roll in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of role and roll
role
- 1
Dated spelling of role
- 2
A character or part played by a performer or actor
My neighbor was the lead role in last year's village play
- 3
An ancient unit of quantity, 72 sheets of parchment
- 4
The expected behaviour of an individual in a society
The role of women has changed significantly in the last century
- 5
The function or position of something
Local volunteers played an important role in cleaning the beach after the oil spill
- 6
Designation that denotes an associated set of responsibilities, knowledge, skills, or privileges
The project manager role is responsible for ensuring that everyone on the team knows and executes his or her assigned tasks
- 7
The function of a word in a phrase
- 8
In the Raku programming language, a code element akin to an interface, used for composition of classes without adding to their inheritance chain
roll
- 1
To revolve by turning over and over; to move by turning on a horizontal axis; to impel forward with a revolving motion on a supporting surface
To roll a wheel, a ball, or a barrel
- 2
The act or result of rolling, or state of being rolled
the roll of a ball
- 3
That which is rolled up
a roll of fat, of wool, paper, cloth, etc
- 4
To wrap (something) round on itself; to form into a spherical or cylindrical body by causing to turn over and over
To roll a sheet of paper; to roll clay or putty into a ball
- 5
Something formed into a compact shape by being rolled up
a roll of banknotes
- 6
A document written on a piece of parchment, paper, or other materials which may be rolled up; a scroll
- 7
To bind or involve by winding, as with a bandage; to enwrap; often with up
To roll up the vase in bubble wrap
- 8
A forward or backward roll in gymnastics; going head over heels. A tumble
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, role or roll?
role appears 145 times per million words; roll 56 times per million words.
role 145 times per million wordsroll 56 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search role vs roll?
“role vs roll” is searched about 3,600 times a month on Google and 200 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“roll vs role”, “role or roll”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.