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PlainSpell

roost

/ɹust/noun, verb

roost is a noun meaning “The place where a bird sleeps (usually its nest or a branch)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-O-O-S-T and has one syllable, and it appears 1.0 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of roost is roosts.

What does roost mean?

noun

  1. 1

    The place where a bird sleeps (usually its nest or a branch).

  2. 2

    A group of birds roosting together.

  3. 3

    A bedroom.

  4. 4

    ScotlandThe open cross-joists or inner roof of a cottage or living space.

  5. 5

    A kick which causes the ball to travel a long distance.

  6. 6

    Synonym of perch (“a position that is secure and advantageous”).

  7. 7

    Alternative form of roust (“a strong tide or current”).

verb

  1. 1

    To settle on a perch in order to sleep or rest.

  2. 2

    To spend the night.

  3. 3

    To kick (a ball) a long distance.

  4. 4

    Alternative form of roust.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce roost?

  • UK /ɹuːst/
  • British /ɹʉwst/
  • US /ɹust/

Roost has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-roost.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of roost

  • roosts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • roosting participle, present
  • roosted participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is roost?

Roost appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Roost in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanNest (place for sleeping birds), auf einem Ast schlafen, auf einer Stange schlafen, übernachten (settle on a perch in order to sleep or rest)
Portuguesepoleiro (place for sleeping birds)
Spanishgallinero, pajarera (place for sleeping birds)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does roost come from?

From Middle English roste (“chicken's roost; perch”), from Old English hrōst (“wooden framework of a roof; roost”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrōst, from Proto-Germanic *hrōstaz (“wooden framework; grill”); see *raustijan.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).