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Origin and history of rotary

rotary(adj.)

1731, from Medieval Latin rotarius "pertaining to wheels," from Latin rota "a wheel, a potter's wheel; wheel for torture," from PIE root *ret- "to run, to turn, to roll" (source also of Sanskrit rathah "car, chariot;" Avestan ratho; Lithuanian ratas "wheel," ritu "I roll;" Old Irish roth, Welsh rhod "carriage wheel"). The root also forms the common West Germanic word for "wheel" (originally "spoked wheel"): Old High German rad, German Rad, Dutch rad, Old Frisian reth, Old Saxon rath.

The international service club (founded by Paul P. Harris in Chicago in 1905) is so called from the practice of clubs entertaining in rotation. Hence Rotarian (1911).

also from 1731

Entries linking to rotary

barouche(n.)

type of large, four-wheeled carriage, 1801, from dialectal German barutsche, from Italian baroccio "chariot," originally "two-wheeled car," from Latin birotus "two-wheeled," from bi- "two" (from PIE root *dwo- "two") + rotus "wheel," from rotare "go around" (see rotary). Frenchified in English, but the word is not French.

The half-top, for morning and evening drives, is much liked: the top being thrown down, the carriage presents an elegant appearance, and affords an opportunity for the display of full dress—hence it is popular with visitors at watering places and public parks. [Henry William Herbert ("Frank Forester"), "Hints to Horse-Keepers," New York, 1859]
rodeo(n.)

"public entertainment show of horse-riding skill," 1913, from the earlier meaning "cattle round-up" (1834), from Spanish rodeo, "pen for cattle at a fair or market," literally "a going round," from rodear "go round, surround," related to rodare "revolve, roll," from Latin rotare "go around" (see rotary).

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Trends of rotary

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

roll
c. 1200, rolle, "rolled-up piece of parchment or paper, scroll" (especially one inscribed with an official record), from Old French rolle "document, parchment scroll, decree" (12c.), Medieval Latin rotulus "a roll of paper" (source also of Spanish rollo, Italian rullo), from Lati
rotation
1550s, "act of rotating or turning, action of moving round a center," from Latin rotationem (nominative rotatio) "a turning about in a circle," noun of action from past-participle stem of rotare "turn round, revolve, whirl about, roll," from the same source as rota "wheel" (see r
rote
c. 1300, "custom, habit," in phrase bi rote "by heart," a word of unknown origin, sometimes said to be connected with Old French rote "route" (see route (n.)), or from Latin rota "wheel" (see rotary), but OED calls both suggestions groundless. Meaning "a fixed or unchanging round
cam
It converts regular rotary motion into irregular, fast-and-slow rotary or reciprocal motion....
reciprocating
forth in a straight line, absolutely relative to the cylinder, as in oscillating-cylinder engines: in contradistinction to rotary...
helicopter
Nativized in Flemish as wentelwiek "with rotary vanes."...
tornado
Meaning "extremely violent whirlwind" is first found 1620s; specifically "destructive rotary funnel cloud" (especially in...
junction
1711, "act of joining," from Latin iunctionem (nominative iunctio) "a joining, uniting," noun of action from past-participle stem of iungere "to join together" (from nasalized form of PIE root *yeug- "to join"). Meaning "place where two or more things come into union or are joine
circle
c. 1300, "figure of a circle, a plane figure whose periphery is everywhere equidistant from its center point," from Old French cercle "circle, ring (for the finger); hoop of a helmet or barrel" (12c.), from Latin circulus "circular figure; small ring, hoop; circular orbit" (also
cleric
"a clergyman," 1620s (also in early use as an adjective), from Church Latin clericus "clergyman, priest," noun use of adjective meaning "priestly, belonging to the clerus;" from Ecclesiastical Greek klērikos "pertaining to an inheritance," but in Greek Christian jargon by 2c., "o

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Dictionary entries near rotary
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