roster

/ˈɹɒs.tə/

//ˈɹɒs.tə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"roster" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“roster” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,176. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,176
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 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...

Corpus desk

Index EN-roster · roster · English

roster · rank #6,176 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,176
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH Rogers

Nearest frequency peer: Rogers (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “roster”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “roster” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

roster vs rote
67% similar
roster vs route
67% similar
roster vs rover
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for roster
PropertyValue
Headwordroster
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɹɒs.tə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#6,176
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “roster”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).rosterlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Rogers” (#6,175), “riot” (#6,174), “sells” (#6,178). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “roster” is #6,176. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around roster (IPA /ˈɹɒs.tə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,176 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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

  1. 1
    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 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.
  2. 2
    A 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.
  3. 3
    A schedule or timetable setting out shift times and dates for each employee of a business.
  4. 4
    A bracketed list that shows the elements of a set.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how roster appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I'm number 12 on the roster for tonight's game.
  2. Its 50 H-7 2-8-8-2's (30 of which found their way onto the Union Pacific roster in 1945) were simple mainly because a tunnel in the Alleghenies would not accommodate the low-pressure cylinders of any Mallet larger than a 2-6-6-2.

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch rooster (“gridiron, table, list”), from Middle Dutch roosten (“to roast”). More at roast.

This word in other languages

plantel(Español)liste(Français)Liste(Deutsch)rol(Português)

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.

orster2rosetr2rosster1rosterr1rostre2rostter1rotser2rroster1
Edit distance from "roster"

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"?
"roster" is spelled R-O-S-T-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹɒs.tə/.
What does "roster" mean?
As a noun, "roster" means: 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...
What words are commonly confused with "roster"?
"roster" is commonly confused with "rote", "route", "rover". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "roster"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "roster" is /ˈɹɒs.tə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "roster"?
Borrowed from Dutch rooster (“gridiron, table, list”), from Middle Dutch roosten (“to roast”). More at roast. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "roster", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Rogers#6,175statue#6,186Marcus#6,163tender#6,192

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

lasted9 variantsintend9 variantsfixing9 variantsbutler9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list