Definition of 'role'
Word forms: roles
1. countable noun
2. countable noun
A role is one of the characters that an actor or singer can play in a movie, play, or opera.
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
role
Word Frequency
role in American English
noun
1.
a part, or character, that an actor plays in a performance
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
Fr rôle, lit., a roll: from roll containing actor's part
Word Frequency
role in American English
(roul)
noun
Also: rôle1.
a part or character played by an actor or actress
3. Sociology
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019
by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Word origin
[1600–10; ‹ F rôle roll (as of paper) containing the actor's part]Word Frequency
role in British English
noun
2. psychology
the part played by a person in a particular social setting, influenced by his or her expectation of what is appropriate
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C17: from French rôle roll, an actor's script
Examples of 'role' in a sentence
role
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Trends of
role
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In other languages
role
British English: role
/rəʊl/ NOUN
The role of someone or something in a situation is their job or position in it.
Parents need to be clear about their role in raising their children.
- American English: role /ˈroʊl/
- Arabic: دَوْر
- Brazilian Portuguese: função
- Chinese: 角色
- Croatian: uloga
- Czech: úloha
- Danish: rolle
- Dutch: rol functie, toneel
- European Spanish: papel rol
- Finnish: rooli
- French: rôle
- German: Rolle Aufgabe
- Greek: ρόλος
- Italian: ruolo
- Japanese: 役割
- Korean: 역할
- Norwegian: rolle
- Polish: rola teatr
- European Portuguese: função
- Romanian: rol
- Russian: роль
- Spanish: papel
- Swedish: roll
- Thai: บทบาทหน้าที่
- Turkish: rol
- Ukrainian: роль
- Vietnamese: vai trò
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Definition of role from the Collins English Dictionary
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