roll
/ɹəʊl/verb, noun
roll is spelled R-O-L-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 56 times per million words in written English, the 1,822nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Roll, the name). People search “role vs roll” about 3,600 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, roll means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in roll?
| Letters | 4: R-O-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 56 times per million words; the 1,822nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is roll?
Roll appears 56 times per million words in written English, the 1,822nd most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Roll, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce roll?
- UK /ɹəʊl/
- UK [ɹɒʊɫ]
- UK /ɹɒl/
Roll 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-roll.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with roll
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: role (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with roll?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as roll from its last stressed vowel (/əʊl/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of roll
- rolls present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- rolling participle, present
- rolled participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does roll mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 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
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.
- 3
To bind or involve by winding, as with a bandage; to enwrap; often with up.
To roll up the vase in bubble wrap.
- 4
To drive, impel, or flow onward with a steady, wave-like motion.
This river will roll its waters to the ocean.
- 5
To pour or trickle.
Drops of sweat rolled down his face.
- 6
To utter copiously, especially with sounding words; to utter with a deep sound; – often with forth, or out.
To roll forth someone's praises; to roll out sentences.
- 7
To press, level, spread, or form with a roller or rollers.
to roll a field; to roll paste; to roll steel rails.
- 8
To move upon rollers or wheels.
noun
- 1
The act or result of rolling, or state of being rolled.
the roll of a ball
- 2
Something formed into a compact shape by being rolled up.
a roll of banknotes
- 3
A forward or backward roll in gymnastics; going head over heels. A tumble.
- 4
A heavy cylinder used to break clods.
- 5
One of a set of revolving cylinders, or rollers, between which metal is pressed, formed, or smoothed, as in a rolling mill.
to pass rails through the rolls
- 6
A swagger or rolling gait.
- 7
A heavy, reverberatory sound.
Hear the roll of cannon.
- 8
The uniform beating of a drum with strokes so rapid as scarcely to be distinguished by the ear.
- 9
That which is rolled up.
a roll of fat, of wool, paper, cloth, etc.
- 10
A document written on a piece of parchment, paper, or other materials which may be rolled up; a scroll.
- 11
An official or public document; a register; a record.
As to the rolls of parliament, viz. the entry of the several petitions, answers and transactions in parliament. Those are generally and successively extant of record in the Tower
- 12
A catalogue or list, (especially) one kept for official purposes.
The roll of solicitors contains the names of all admitted solicitors of a jurisdiction.
- 13
A food preparation comprising one or more ingredients wrapped in, e.g., flatbread, lettuce leaf, etc.
- 14
A quantity of cloth wound into a cylindrical form.
a roll of carpeting; a roll of ribbon
- 15
A cylindrical twist of tobacco.
- 16
A kind of shortened raised biscuit or bread, often rolled or doubled upon itself; see also bread roll.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Roll in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | faire rouler , rouler , enrouler , laminer, niveler , roulement |
| German | rollen , aufrollen, aufwickeln , Rollen, Walzen, Rolle |
| Portuguese | rolar, girar , circular , amassar , rolagem , cambalhota |
| Spanish | hacer rodar, rodear, rular, arrodear , ruedo , rodar |
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 roll come from?
From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source. Displaced native English welt and partially displaced English wallow.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).