Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “rotate” come from?

Rotate comes from Latin rotatus, the past participle of roto, derived from rota meaning wheel, which traces to Proto-Indo-European ret-, ultimately from Hreth₂-.

rotate (English): To spin, turn, or revolve; To advance through a...

Definitions

  1. To spin, turn, or revolve; To advance through a...

Ancestry of “rotate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinrotātus—
2Latinrotō—
3LatinRotaan ecclesiastical appellate court in the Catholic...
4Proto-Italicrotā—
5Proto-Indo-EuropeanHróth₂-eh₂—
6Proto-Indo-EuropeanHreth₂-to run

Words derived from “rotate”

  • rotating
  • rotor
  • rotator
  • rotatable
  • nonrotating
  • rotorcraft
  • contrarotating
  • rotatability
  • tiltrotor
  • corotate
  • rotatably
  • autorotate
  • derotator
  • proprotor
  • overrotate
  • counterrotate
  • superrotating
  • nonrotatable
  • multirotor
  • antirotating
  • hexarotor
  • birotate
  • circumrotate
  • underrotate
Every word from Proto-Indo-European Hreth₂- →