roke

English

Alternative forms

• roak, rook, rouk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹəʊk/
• Rhymes: -əʊk

Etymology 1

From Middle English roke (“fog, vapour, cloud”), probably from Old Norse roka ("whirlwind, fine spray"; compare Old Norse særoka (“seaspray”)), reinforced later by Middle Dutch roke, rooc (“smoke”), from Old Dutch rouc (“steam, vapour”), from Proto-Germanic *raukiz (“smoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewg- (“to erupt, vomit, burp”), from *rew- (“to roar, growl, grumble”). Cognate with Scots rok, roik, rouk (“mist, fog, cloud”), Dutch rook (“smoke, fog”), German Rauch (“smoke, fume”), Swedish rök (“smoke, fume, steam, reek”), West Frisian reek, riik (“smoke, fume”). More at reek. Compare dialectal rawk, which is related, and rag (“fog”) (see raggy (“foggy”)), which may or may not be.

Noun

roke (countable and uncountable, plural rokes)

1. (UK, dialect) Fog, mist; light rain; smoke, vapour; damp.

Etymology 2

Unclear; perhaps related to dialect rauk, rawk, a northern English dialectal word for a mark, including e.g. a defect on cloth.

Noun

roke (plural rokes)

1. A defect in an ingot of steel: a depression lined with scale.
   • 1921, Iron & Coal Trades Review, volume 103, page 337:

     It was found by examination of numerous sections of roky shell that it was not possible to estimate the extent of a roke by its appearance on the surface. The filing of a groove across the roke gives some […] indication as to its depth, […]

2. (UK, dialect, mining) A measurement of coal ore.
   • 1889, “Action for Breach of a Custom observed in delivering Coal at Wollaton Pit, 1549, April 1”, in Records of the Borough of Nottingham: 1547-1625, page 11:

     of which custom the aforesaid John Parlby being not in the least ignorant, on the 20th day of Jun, in the second year of the reign of our Lord the present King, at the same pit, received and had a whole roke of coals, value 18d., by the delivery of the said Richard, together with a sign for one whole roke, according to the custom aforesaid;

   • 1907, William Page, The Victoria History of the County of Derby - Volume 2, page 351:

     In 1450 certain lands at Codnor were exchanged subject to the condition that one of the parites should receive yearly three roke of coal if any 'myne of cole' were got.

   • 1924, The Mining Engineer - Volumes 66-67, page 226:

     Account of coal getting, from 13 February to 24 December, 17 Henry VIII., giving the quantity got by each collier week by week, in the following form: “ L. Lambe gatt xiii roke

Related terms

• roky

References

• “roke”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Kore, kero, kore, oker

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

roke

1. (dated or formal) singular past subjunctive of ruiken
2. (dated or formal) singular past subjunctive of rieken
3. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of roken

Anagrams

• oker, roek

Japanese

Romanization

roke

1. Rōmaji transcription of ロケ

Maori

Noun

roke

1. dung, poop, poo, faeces, feces, doodoo

   Synonyms: hamuti, tūtae, hamiti

Further reading

“roke” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Old French

Noun

roke oblique singular, f (oblique plural rokes, nominative singular roke, nominative plural rokes)

1. (Old Northern French) Alternative form of roche