# rot

> English word · Verb · IPA /ɹɒt/ · frequency rank #11,285

## Definitions
1. To suffer decomposition due to biological action, especially by fungi or bacteria.
2. To decline in function or utility.
3. To (cause to) deteriorate in any way, as in morals; to corrupt.
4. To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed by natural processes.
5. To spend a long period of time (in an unpleasant place or state).
6. To expose, as flax, to a process of maceration, etc., for the purpose of separating the fiber; to ret.
7. To talk nonsense.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **RS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rs)
- **RT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rt)
- **RP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rp)
- **RV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rv)
- **RR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rr)
- **RW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rw)
- **run** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-run)
- **row** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-row)
- **Roy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-roy)
- **rub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rub)
- **rug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rug)
- **rum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rum)
- **rue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rue)
- **RPG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rpg)
- **rye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rye)
- **rpm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rpm)
- **RSS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rss)
- **RSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rsa)
- **rut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rut)
- **Rus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rot-vs-rus)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/rot