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roach¹

(rōch)

n. pl. roachor roach·es

1. An edible freshwater cyprinid fish (Rutilus rutilus) of northern Europe.

2. Any of various similar fishes, such as some North American freshwater sunfishes.

[Middle English roche; akin to Medieval Latin rocea (attested in a source from England from around AD 1000) and Anglo-Norman roche and ultimately of unknown origin.]

roach²

(rōch)

n. pl. roach·es

1. A cockroach.

2. Slang The butt of a marijuana cigarette.

roach³

(rōch)

n. pl. roach·es

1. A roll of hair brushed up from the forehead or temple.

2. A hairstyle especially among certain Native American peoples in which the head is shaved except for a strip from front to back across the top.

3. Nautical

a. An outward curve in the leech of a fore-and-aft sail.

b. An inward curve in the foot of a square sail.

tr.v. roached, roach·ing, roach·es

1. To brush (hair) in a roach.

2. To shave (the mane of a horse) to a short bristle.

[Originally meaning “inward curve in a square sail,” from ROACH¹ and (in reference to the relatively high arch of the fish's back).]

Roach

(rōch), Maxwell Known as "Max." 1924-2007.

American jazz drummer who defined the role of the drummer in the development of bop.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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