Emily Dickinson Lexicon

roll, n. [OFr roolle.]

List; census; register of individuals; record enumerating members of a group; scroll that accounts for people; list of the covenant people of the Lord (see Jeremiah 36:6); [fig.] scripture; biblical text; [metaphor] judgment; book of life; [word play on “role”] conscription; draft; muster list; enlistment paper for military duty.

roll (-ed), v. [OFr roler.]

1. Rumble; make rapid and continuous beating sound.
2. Move; wheel; turn; revolve.
3. Toll; peal; ring.

rolling, verbal adj. [see roll, v.]

1. Moving as on wheels.
2. Turning; undulating; wavy.

romance, n. [ME < OFr romanz.]

Story; tale; adventure; narrative; chronicle; account.

Romeo, proper n. [It. < L. Romaeus, pilgrim to Rome.]

Juliet's lover; main male character in Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet; [fig.] man; husband; male protagonist; tragic hero.

roof (-s), n. [OE hróf < OFris. rhoof.]

1. Thatch; housetop; covering of a house.
2. Top of a grave; cover over a burial vault.

room (-s), n. [OE rúm.]

1. Chamber; apartment; private living quarters; dwelling place in a house.
2. Space; dimensional extent.
3. Tomb.
4. Stead; place of another.
5. Unoccupied opportunities.
6. Parlor; funeral chamber.
7. Floor [as noted by NW in his etymology.]

root, n. [Late OE rót < ON rót.]

1. Underground branch of a plant; part that grows in the earth, supporting a plant while it absorbs nutrients.
2. Origin; cause.

root, v. [see root, n.]

Settle; locate; become fixed; establish oneself.

rope (-s), n. [OE ráp.]

String; line; cord; [fig.] shore; strand; beach; border.