rot-steep 
rot-Steep (rot'step), H. The process of steeping 
cotton fabrics in water to remove impurities, 
preparatory to bleaching. See the quotation. 
The rot steep, so called because the flour or size with 
which the goods were impregnated was formerly allowed 
to ferment and putrefy, is intended to thoroughly wet the 
cloth. W. Crookes, Dyeing and Calico-printing, p. 45. 
rottat, n. Same as rota 2 . 
rottant, An occasional spelling of ratan. 
Rottboellia (rot-bel'i-a), n. [NL. (Linneeus 
filius, 1779), named after C. F. Bottboell (1727- 
1797), professor of botany at Copenhagen, au- 
thor of botanical works. ] A genus 
6239 
having been wholly or in part removed. This 
material when pulverized forms a cheap and efficient sub- 
stance for use In polishing the softer metals. 
rottenstone (rot'n-ston), . t. ; pret. and pp. 
rottenstoncd, ppr. rottenstoning. [< rottenstone, 
n.] To polish with rottenstone. 
rotting (rot'ing),. [Verbal n. of rot, r.] Same 
as retting, 1. 
Rottlera (rot'ler-a), . [NL., named after Dr. 
Rattler, a Danisfi missionary.] A genus of 
plants, now placed under Mallotus. 
rottolo (i'Ot'p-16), n. [X It. rotolo, a certain 
celled, the other fertile and sessile, and, further, by the 
cylindrical form of the spike, by the spikelets being em- 
bedded in excavations of the axis, by the absence of long 
hairs or awns, and by the single unisexual flower which 
commonly forms the fertile spikelet, containing four ob- 
tuse glumes, three stamens, and two distinct styles. The 
27 species inhabit warm or temperate regions in both 
hemispheres ; one species. R. rugom, is found in pine-bar- 
rens from Delaware southward. They are generally tall 
grasses with flat leaves, either rough or smooth. Some 
species bear a cluster of spikes, others a single one, or, as 
in R. digitata. a handsome Asiatic species, an elongated 
spike is sometimes set with a few snort branches at its 
base, with often au additional male flower in each spike- 
let. Some are forage-grasses, as the tropical R. compressa, 
valued by graziers in Australia. 
rotten 1 (rot'n), a. [< ME. roten, roton, rotin, < 
Icel. rotinn = Sw. rutten = Dan. raaden, rotten ; 
in form pp. of a lost verb, Icel. as if "rjota, rot : 
see rot.] 1. Undergoing natural decomposi- 
tion; affected by rot or organic dissolution; 
putrid (as animal and some vegetable matters), 
soft (as fruits, etc.), or weak (as vegetable fibers, 
fabrics, etc.) from elemental decay: as, a rot- 
ten carcass or egg ; a rotten log or plank ; rot- 
ten cloth. 
The seed is rotten under their clods. Joel i. 17. 
Breaking his oath and resolution like 
A twist of rotten silk. Shale., Cor., v. 6. 96. 
2. Putrid from organic decay, or from the pres- 
ence of decomposing matter; hence, of a putrid 
quality; ill-smelling; fetid. 
You common cry of curs ! whose breath I hate 
As reek o' the rotten lens. Shak., Cor., iii. 3. 121. 
3. Affected with the disease called rot, as 
sheep or other animals. 
Many of those that got safe on the Island, for want of 
being accustomed to such hardships, died like rotten 
Sheep. Dampier, Voyages, I. 50. 
4. Unsound as if from rotting; in a loose or 
i or stone. 
Jt'on), . Same 
rotula (rot'u-lii), n. ; pi. rotulse (-le). [< L. ro- 
tula, a little wheel, dim. of rota, a wheel : see 
rota 1 . Cf. roll.] 1. In anat. and zool.: (a) 
Same as patella, 2. (b) One of the five radial 
pieces entering into the composition of the 
dentary apparatus of a sea-urchin, serving to 
connect the epiphyses of each of the five alve- 
oli, and to furnish an articulation for each of 
the five radii or compasses. See lantern of 
Aristotle (under lantern), and cut under Clype- 
astridse, (c) A small hard nodule embedded 
in soft parts of other echinoderms, as the cal- 
careous rotulss of some holothurians (Cliiro- 
dptx). (d) leap.] [NL.] A genus of flat ro- 
tiform sea-urchins of the family MelUtidx, 
having the test perforate and digitate. 2. In 
music, a little rota or round ; especially, a carol 
or song for Christmas. 
rotular (rot'u-lar), a. [< L. rotula, a little 
wheel (see rotula), + -ar$.] 1. Of or pertain- 
ing to a rotula : resembling a rotula ; rotulif orm ; 
nodular; patellar: as, a rotular groove ; therot- 
ular bone of a limb. 2. Specifically, noting 
that aspect or surface of the hind limb on 
which the rotula is situated: as, the rotular as- 
pect of the foot, the dorsum of the foot, as op- 
posed to the sole or plantar surface : opposed 
to popliteal, and corresponding to anconal in 
the fore limb, and to epaxial in either limb, 
when the limb is in its morphological position, 
extended at right angles with the axis of the 
body. 
rotulet (rot'u-let), n. [< ML. rotulus, a roll, + 
-et.] A roll. 
There is every probability that the handy-book or re- 
gister called Doomesday followed the Court whenever im- 
Hls principal care was to have many Bridges laid over 
Bogs and rott'n Hoars. Milton, Hist. Eng., ii. 
We were obliged to leave the river on account of rotten 
ice, and took to the open plains, where our deers sank to 
their bellies in the loose snow. 
B. Taylor, Northern Travel, p. 144. 
5. Unsound in character or quality ; in a cor- 
rupt or untrustworthy state ; destitute of sta- 
bility or integrity. 
Never did base and rotten policy 
Colour her working with such deadly wounds. 
Shale., 1 Hen. IV., i. 3. 108. 
Leaning these Antiquities [Babylonian legends], rotten 
with age, let vs come to take better view of this stately 
Cittie. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 55. 
Our condition Is not sound but rotten, both in religion 
and all civil prudence. Milton, Free Commonwealth. 
6. In imnting, said of bad prints from wood- 
cuts, that show holes and broken lines Rotten 
borough. See borough^. 
rotten 2 (rot'u), n. A dialectal variant of ratten. 
rotten-egg (rot'n-eg'), v. t. [< rotten egg.] To 
pelt with rotten or putrid eggs ; throw rotten 
eggs at: done as a manifestation of extreme 
anger or disgust. 
Rev. and Bishop . . . were rotten- 
egged and "rocked," but San Antonio is bitterly ashamed 
ot it- Congreyationalist, Aug. 11, 1887. 
rottenly (rot'n-li), adv. In a rotten manner; 
hence, fetidly; putridly; unsoundly; defec- 
tively. 
rottenness (rot'n-nes), n. The state of being 
rotten, decayed, or putrid ; unsoundness ; cor- 
ruptness. 
A sound heart is the life of the flesh ; but envy the rot- 
tenness of the bones. Prov. xiv. 30. 
What's gained by falsehood? There they stand 
Whose trade it is, whose life it is ! How vain 
To gild such rottenness! Browning, Stratford, iv. 1. 
rottenstone (rot'u-ston), M. An argillaceous 
or silicious limestone which by weathering has 
become soft and friable, the calcareous part 
707. 
[< L. rotula, a 
Shaped like a 
rotund (ro-tund'), a. [= F. rond, OF. roond, 
roont = Pr. redon, redun = Cat. redd, rodo = 
Sp. Pg. rotunda, redondo = It. rotondo, ritondo, 
round, < L. rotundus, like a wheel, round, circu- 
lar, spherical, < rota, a wheel : see rota 1 , and 
cf. round 1 , an earlier form of the word.] 1. 
Round or roundish; spherical or globular; 
rounded out; convexly protuberant ; bulbous: 
as, a rotund paunch or figure. 
It was a little too exasperating to look at this pink-faced 
rotund specimen of prosperity, to witness the power for 
evil that lay in his vulgar cant 
George Eliot, Felix Holt, xxx. 
2. In hot. and entom., circumscribed by one 
unbroken curve, or without angles: as, a ro- 
tund leaf or wing. 
rotundt (ro-tund'), n. [< F. rotonde, < It. ro- 
tonda, & rotunda: see rotunda.] A rotunda. 
[Rare.] 
I must confess the eye Is better filled at first entering 
the rotund, and takes in the whole beauty and magnificence 
of the temple [the Pantheon at Rome] at one view. 
Addison, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bonn, I. 418). 
rotunda (ro-tun'da), n. [Formerly also rotun- 
da (also rotund, <"F. rotonde); < It. rotonda = 
Sp. Pg. rotunda, < ML. "rotunda (sc. domus), 
a round building, < L. rotunda, fern, of rotun- 
dus, round: see rotund, round 1 .] 1. A round 
building, especially one with a dome ; any build- 
ing that is round both outside and inside. The 
most celebrated edifice of this kind is the Pan- 
theon at Rome. See cuts under octastyle and 
pantheon. 2. A circular hall in a large build- 
ing, generally surmounted by a dome : as, the 
rotunda of the Capitol in Washington. 
rotundate (ro-tun'dat), a. [< L. rotunda-tits, 
rounded, pp.' of rotundare, make round, < ro- 
tundus, round : see rotund, and cf. round 1 , r.] 
Rounded off; specifically, in lot. and zool., 
Rouen cross 
noting bodies which are rounded off at their 
ends; also, in hot., same as rotund. 
rotundifplious (ro-tun-di-to'li-us), a. [< L. ro- 
tinutifolius, round-leafed, < rotundus, round, + 
folium, leaf.] Having round leaves. 
rotundioust (ro-tun'di-us), a. [Irreg. for "rotun- 
doug, < L. rotundus, round : see rotund.] Ro- 
tund ; rounded out. [Rare.] 
So your rare wit, that 's ever at the full, 
Lyes In the cave of your rotundious skull. 
John Taylor, Works (1630). (Naret.) 
rotundity (ro-tuu'di-ti), n. [< OF. (and F.) 
rotonditi = Pr. rotonditat = Sp. rotundidad = 
Pg. rotundidade = It. rotondita, < L. rotundi- 
ta(t-)s, roundness, < rotundus, rotund, round: 
see round 1 , rotund.] 1. Roundness; spheri- 
city ; globular form. 
And thou, all-shaking thunder, 
Strike flat the thick rotundity o' the world ! 
Skat., Lear, Hi. 2. 7. 
The usual French scenery, with its fields cut up by 
hedges, and a considerable rotundity In its trees. 
H. James, Jr., Little Tour, p. 97. 
2f. Rounded fullness ; integral entireness. 
For the mere rotundity of the number and grace of the 
matter It passeth for a full thousand. Fuller. 
= Syn. 1. See roundness. 
rotundness(ro-tund'nes),?i. Same as rotundity. 
rotundot (ro-tun'do), n. Same as rotunda. 
rotund-ovate (ro-tund'o'vat), a. In bot., round- 
ly egg-shaped. 
rotund-pointed (ro-tund'poin' i 'ted), a. In en- 
torn., having the point rounded off or blunt; 
bluntly pointed. 
roture (ro-tiir'), . [F., < ML. ruptura, land 
broken up by the plow, cleared land capable 
of being used for sowing, etc., < LL. ruptura, 
a breaking: see rupture.] 1. In France, ple- 
beian rank ; the state of being a roturier. 
Indeed he himself always signed the name Delabruyere 
in one word, thus avowing his roture. 
Encyc. Bril., XIV. 177. 
2. In French-Canadian laic, a grant made of 
feudal property, part of a fief, subject to a 
ground-rent or annual charge, and with no 
privilege attached. 
roturert, . Same as roturier. 
roturier (ro-tU-ri-a'), n. [F., a plebeian, < ML. 
rupturarius, that cultivates a field, < rupttira, 
a field: see roture.] 1. In France, a person 
not of noble birth; a plebeian. 
He required all persons, noble as well as roturier, to fur- 
nish so many soldiers in proportion to their revenues. 
Brougham. 
2. In French-Canadian laic, one who holds real 
property subject to an annual rent or charge. 
Roubaix blue. See Uue. 
rouble, . See ruble. 
rouche, . See ruche. 
roucheaget, n. Same as rokeage. 
rouched (roucht), a. [An assibilated form, with 
lengthened vowel, of rucked, < rucl; 2 + -ed?.] 1 . 
Wrinkled. Halliwell. [Prov.Eng.] 2. Puck- 
ery ; puckering the mouth, as sour beer. [Prov. 
EngJ 
Beer is said to be rouched when it acquires a tartness. 
Halliwell. 
roucou (ro'ko), n. [F. roucou, rocou = Pg. ru- 
cii, < Braz. urucii, arnotto.] A dye: same as 
arnotto. 
TOT3.6 (ro-a'). . [< F. roue, an epithet applied 
by the Duke of Orleans, regent of France from 
1715 to 1723, to his companions in dissipation, 
and usually explained as ' broken on a wheel,' 
implying that his companions deserved to be 
broken on the wheel; but it is prob. to be 
taken in the other fig. use, 'jaded,' 'worn out': 
pp. of rouer, break on the wheel, run over, beat, 
bang (roue, roue de fatigue, jaded), < roue, a 
wheel, < L. rota, a wheel: see rota 1 .] A man 
devoted to a life of pleasure and sensuality, 
especially in his relation to women; a de- 
bauchee ; a rake. 
rouelle-guard (r^-el'gard), n. [F., a little 
wheel, < ML. rotella, a little wheel : see rofella 1 , 
rowel.] A guard having the shape of a disk, 
the plane of it at right angles with the grip, in 
some daggers of the fourteenth century both pommel and 
guard are of this form, the whole hilt resembling a spool 
or reel for thread. See dayue <l roelle, under dague. 
rouen, . See rowen. 
Rouen cross. A jewel, worn either as a brooch 
or as a pendant, or sometimes in the form of 
a pendant hanging from a brooch, composed 
of a somewhat elaborate piece of fretwork in 
the general shape of a cross, usually of gold. 
These crosses are often set with small crystals cut like 
diamonds, or with diamonds of small value, the stones and 
