roster
/ˈɹɒs.tə/
"roster" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“roster” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,176 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,176
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A list of individuals or groups, usually for an organization of some kind such as military officers and enlisted personnel enrolled in a particular unit; a muster roll; a sports team, with the name...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | roster |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɒs.tə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #6,176 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “roster” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for roster is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹɒs.tə/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,176 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for roster, with forms such as "orster", "rosetr", and "rosster". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "rote", "route", "rover", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Dutch rooster (“gridiron, table, list”), from Middle Dutch roosten (“to roast”). More at roast. The correct English form is roster, spelled R-O-S-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1A list of individuals or groups, usually for an organization of some kind such as military officers and enlisted personnel enrolled in a particular unit; a muster roll; a sports team, with the names of players who are eligible to be placed in the lineup for a particular game; or a list of students officially enrolled in a school or class.
- 2A list of the jobs to be performed by members of an organization and often with the date and time that they are expected to perform them.
- 3A schedule or timetable setting out shift times and dates for each employee of a business.
- 4A bracketed list that shows the elements of a set.
Etymology
Borrowed from Dutch rooster (“gridiron, table, list”), from Middle Dutch roosten (“to roast”). More at roast.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: orster,rosetr,rosster,rosterr,rostre,rostter,rotser,rroster,rsoter
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of roster - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "roster"?
What does "roster" mean?
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Using “roster”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-O-S-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɒs.tə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “rote” - see the side-by-side comparison. roster vs rote
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.