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rot

/ɹɑt/verb, noun

rot is a verb meaning “To suffer decomposition due to biological action, especially by fungi or bacteria” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-O-T and has one syllable, and it appears 5.0 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does rot mean?

verb

  1. 1

    To suffer decomposition due to biological action, especially by fungi or bacteria.

    The apple left in the cupboard all that time had started to rot.

  2. 2

    To decline in function or utility.

    Your brain will rot if you spend so much time on the computer, Tony!

  3. 3

    To (cause to) deteriorate in any way, as in morals; to corrupt.

  4. 4

    To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes.

    to rot vegetable fiber

  5. 5

    To spend a long period of time (in an unpleasant place or state).

    to rot in prison

  6. 6

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

  7. 7

    datedslangTo talk nonsense.

  8. 8

    slangDamn; blast.

noun

  1. 1

    The process of becoming rotten; putrefaction.

  2. 2

    Decaying matter.

  3. 3

    Any of several diseases in which breakdown of tissue occurs.

  4. 4

    Verbal nonsense.

    You're talking rot! I don't believe a word.

noun

as ROT
  1. 1

    Initialism of record of transmission.

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

How do you pronounce rot?

  • UK /ɹɒt/
  • US /ɹɑt/
  • British /ɹɔt/

Rot 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: En-us-rot.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of rot

  • rots present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • rotting participle, present
  • rotted participle, past

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

How common is rot?

Rot appears 5.0 times per million words in written English, the 11,198th 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).

Rot in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpourrir ((intransitive) to suffer decomposition)
Germanverrotten, verderben, faulen, verfaulen, verwesen, putreszieren ((intransitive) to suffer decomposition)
Portugueseputrefazer, apodrecer ((intransitive) to suffer decomposition)
Spanishpudrirse, podrirse ((intransitive) to suffer decomposition), pudrir, podrir ((transitive) to make putrid), putrefacción, podre (process of becoming rotten – see also decay…)

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 rot come from?

Inherited from Middle English roten, rotten, from Old English rotian (“to rot, become corrupted, ulcerate, putrefy”), from Proto-West Germanic *rotēn, from Proto-Germanic *rutāną (“to rot”).

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