roll, rolle, roule, rowle

[In some senses directly from the verb to roll (q. v.), in others from O. Fr. rolle, roule (Fr. rôle ) =a roll, from Low Lat. rotulum, acc us. of rotulus =a roll, from Lat. rota = a wheel; Sp. rollo, rol, rolde; Port. roto; Ital. rotolo, ruotolo, rullo.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. The act of rolling; the state of being rolled. 2. That which rolls; a flow in alternate rising and falling. ( Thomson : Autumn, 17.) 3. That which rolls, or is made or used for rolling; a roller. "Where land is clotty, and a shower of rain comes that soaks through, use a roll to break the clots." - Mortimer: Husbandry. 4. Something made or formed by rolling some thing formed into or resembling a cylindrical body formed by rolling. "Large rolls of fat about his shoulders clung, And from his neck the double dewlap hung.' Add is on. 5. A document which is or may be rolled up. "Behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein." - Ezekiel ii. 9. 6. Hence, an official document generally. "Search was made in the house of the rolls ."- Ezra vi. 1. 7. Wool - working : A carding of wool, delivered broadside from the cards, and somewhat compacted in the proce . Rolls are prepared for hand spinning. (1) Master of the Rolls : [MASTER, 10.] (2) Rolls of Court , of Parliament , .: The parchments (kept in rolls) on which are engro ed by the proper officer the acts and proceedings of the particular body, and which constitute the records of such public body. ( Eng . ) (3) The Rolls : A precinct situated between the cities of London and Westminster, England, enjoy ing certain immunities, and hence called the Liberty of the Rolls; the name being derived from the rolls or records deposited in its chapel. (4) Long roll : The prolonged roll of the drums, a signal for troops to form in line.