Rota
//ˈɹəʊtə// name, noun
name, noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A schedule that allocates some task, responsibility or (rarely) privilege between a set of people according to a (possibly periodic) calendar. Ireland, UK
"[The manager] instituted a rota for having the players attend supporters’ club meetings throughout the season, telling them it was part of the job of being a footballer."
- 2 A kind of zither used in the Middle Ages in church music.
"Along the creek bed he came, plucking a rota, a zither of five strings with bone-yoke facings and a beaverskin carrying-bag thrown over his shoulder."
- 3 a roster of names showing the order in which people should perform certain duties wordnet
- 4 (Roman Catholic Church) the supreme ecclesiastical tribunal for cases appealed to the Holy See from diocesan courts wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A branch of the papal Curia which serves as an appellate court in ecclesiastical cases, including cases of marriage nullity. countable, uncountable
"The Rota consists of twelve Doctors, chosen out of the four Nations of Italy, France, Spain, and Germany."
- 2 An island of the Northern Mariana Islands.
- 3 A club established by James Harrington in 1659 to advocate term limits and rotation of government offices; other similar clubs of the era. UK, countable, historical, obsolete, uncountable
- 4 A surname from Italian. countable
- 5 A town in Andalusia, Spain. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"I have had a busy rota this week."
Etymology
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Latin rota (“wheel”). Doublet of rotor and ruote.
Etymology 2
From Italian Rota, from Latin Rota, from Latin rota (“wheel”).
Related phrases
More for "rota"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.