英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

rollback (n.)[rollback 词源字典]: also roll-back, "action of rolling backward," 1937; "reduction," 1942, American English, from verbal phrase, from roll (v.) + back (adv.).[rollback etymology, rollback origin, 英语词源]
roller (n.): late 13c., "thing that rolls;" early 15c., "rolling pin," agent noun from roll (v.). Meaning "hair-curler" is attested from 1795. Roller derby is from 1936 (see derby); roller hockey from 1926. Disparaging religious term holy roller is attested from 1842, American English, from the alleged rolling in the church aisles done by those in the Spirit.
Rollerblade (n.): 1985, a registered proprietary name in U.S., from roller + blade (n.). As a verb by 1988. Related: Rollerblading.
rollercoaster (n.): also roller-coaster, and originally roller coaster, by 1884, perhaps mid-1870s, from roller + coaster. As a verb by 1959.
rollerskate (n.): also roller-skate, 1861, American English, from roller + skate (n.). The verb is from 1885. Related: Rollerskated; rollerskating.
rollicking (adj.): 1811, present participle adjective from rollick "be jovial in behavior" (though this does not appear in print until 1826), which perhaps is a blend of roll (v.) and frolic (v.).
rolling (adj.): 14c., past participle adjective from roll (v.). Of prairie land from 1819. From mid-15c. as a verbal noun. Rolling pin is recorded from late 15c. Rolling paper for cigarettes, etc., is from 1969. Rolling stock "wheeled vehicles on a railroad" (locomotives, carriages, etc.) is from 1853.
The rollyng stone neuer gatherth mosse. [John Heywood, "A dialogue conteinying the nomber in effect of all the proverbes in the Englishe tongue," 1546]
rollout (n.): also roll-out, 1957, originally of airplanes, from verbal phrase, from roll (v.) + out (adv.). As a type of U.S. football play from 1959.
rollover (n.): also roll-over "an overturning," 1945, from verbal phrase; see roll (v.) + over (adv.). Economic verbal sense of "reinvest" is from 1957.
Rolls-Royce (n.): registered 1908 as trademark, named for designers C.S. Rolls (1877-1910) and Sir Henry Royce (1863-1933). Figurative use from 1916 for any product deemed to be of high quality. Shortened form Rolls first attested 1928.
Rolodex (n.): 1958, said to be from rolling + index.
roly-poly (adj.): "short and stout," 1820, probably a varied reduplication of roll (v.). As a noun, it was used as the name of various ball games from 1713, and it was used as early as 1610s in the sense of "rascal." As an appellation of a short, stout person, from 1836.
Rom: "male gypsy," 1841, see Romany.
romaine (adj.): type of lettuce, 1876, from French romaine (in laitue romaine, literally "Roman lettuce"), from fem. of Old French romain "Roman," from Latin Romanus (see Roman). Perhaps so called because of the lettuce's introduction into France (by Bureau de la Rivière, chamberlain of Charles V and VI) at the time of the Avignon papacy (1309-77).
Roman (n.): Old English, from Latin Romanus "of Rome, Roman," from Roma "Rome" (see Rome). The adjective is c. 1300, from Old French Romain. The Old English adjective was romanisc, which yielded Middle English Romanisshe.

As a type of numeral (usually contrasted to Arabic) it is attested from 1728; as a type of lettering (based on the upright style typical of Roman inscriptions, contrasted to Gothic, or black letter, and italic) it is recorded from 1510s. Roman nose is from 1620s. Roman candle as a type of fireworks is recorded from 1834. Roman Catholic is attested from c. 1600, a conciliatory formation from the time of the Spanish Match, replacing Romanist, Romish which by that time had the taint of insult in Protestant England.
roman (n.): "a novel," 1765, from French roman, from Old French romanz (see romance (n.)); roman à clef, novel in which characters represent real persons, literally "novel with a key" (French), first attested in English 1893. And, for those who can't get enough of it, roman policier "a story of police detection" (1928).
Roman holiday (n.): "occasion on which entertainment or profit is derived from injury or death," 1860, originally in reference to holidays for gladiatorial combat; the expression seems to be entirely traceable to an oft-quoted passage on a dying barbarian gladiator from the fourth canto (1818) of Byron's "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage":
But where his rude hut by the Danube lay
There were his young barbarians all at play,
There was their Dacian mother. He, their sire,
Butcher'd to make a Roman holiday!
romance (n.): c. 1300, "a story, written or recited, of the adventures of a knight, hero, etc.," often one designed principally for entertainment," from Old French romanz "verse narrative" (Modern French roman), originally an adverb, "in the vernacular language," from Vulgar Latin *romanice scribere "to write in a Romance language" (one developed from Latin instead of Frankish), from Latin Romanicus "of or in the Roman style," from Romanus "Roman" (see Roman).

The sense evolution is because medieval vernacular tales usually told chivalric adventures full of marvelous incidents and heroic deeds. In reference to literary works, often in Middle English meaning ones written in French but also applied to native compositions. Literary sense extended by 1660s to "a love story." Meaning "adventurous quality" first recorded 1801; that of "love affair" is from 1916. Romance novel attested from 1964. Compare Romance (adj.).
romance (v.): late 14c., "recite a narrative," from Old French romancier "narrate in French; translate into French," from romanz (see romance (n.)). Later "invent fictitious stories" (1670s), then "be romantically enthusiastic" (1849); meaning "court as a lover" is from 1938, probably from romance (n.). Related: Romanced; romancing.
Romance (adj.): mid-14c., "French; in the vernacular language of France" (contrasted to Latin), from Old French romanz "French; vernacular," from Late Latin Romanice, from Latin Romanicus (see Roman). Extended 1610s to other modern tongues derived from Latin (Spanish, Italian, etc.); thus "pertaining to the languages which arose out of the Latin language of the provinces of Rome." Compare romance (n.).