What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Rote vs Route - What's the difference?

rote | route |

As nouns the difference between rote and route

is that rote is the process of learning or committing something to memory through mechanical repetition, usually by hearing and repeating aloud, often without full attention to comprehension or thought for the meaning while route is a course or way which is traveled or passed.

As verbs the difference between rote and route

is that rote is to go out by rotation or succession; to rotate while route is to direct or divert along a particular course.

As an adjective rote

is by repetition or practice.

rote

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl), origin uncertain. Likely from the phrase (see (rotary)), but the calls both suggestions groundless.

Noun

(-)
  • The process of learning or committing something to memory through mechanical repetition, usually by hearing and repeating aloud, often without full attention to comprehension or thought for the meaning.
  • They didn’t have copies of the music for everyone, so most of us had to learn the song by rote .
  • * 2009 , Jim Holt], ''[http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/books/review/Holt-t.html?_r=2&8bu&emc=bub1 Got Poetry?
  • But memorize them we did, in big painful chunks, by rote repetition.
  • Mechanical routine; a fixed, habitual, repetitive, or mechanical course of procedure.
  • The pastoral scenes from those commercials don’t bear too much resemblance to the rote of daily life on a farm.
    Usage notes
    * Commonly found in the phrase "by rote" and in attributive use: "rote learning", "rote memorization", and so on. * Often used pejoratively in comparison with "deeper" learning that leads to "understanding".
    Derived terms
    * rotelike * rotely
    See also
    * muscle memory

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • By repetition or practice.
  • *
  • Verb

    (rot)
  • (obsolete) To go out by rotation or succession; to rotate.
  • (Zane Grey)
  • To learn or repeat by rote.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Etymology 2

    c. 1600, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (-)
  • (rare) The roar of the surf; the sound of waves breaking on the shore.
  • Etymology 3

    (etyl) rote, probably of German origin; compare Middle High German (rotte), and English .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A kind of guitar, the notes of which were produced by a small wheel or wheel-like arrangement; an instrument similar to the hurdy-gurdy.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
  • extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds, and rotes

    Anagrams

    * ----

    route

    English

    (wikipedia route)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) route, rote (French: route) “road, way, path” (source: route on Etymonline)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A course or way which is traveled or passed.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.}}
  • * , volume=101, issue=2, page=83
  • , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= The Smallest Cell , passage=It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.}}
  • A regular itinerary of stops, or the path followed between these stops, such as for delivery or passenger transportation.
  • A road or path; often specifically a highway.
  • (rfc-sense) (figuratively) One of multiple methods or approaches to doing something.
  • * 2010 , Damien McLoughlin and David A. Aaker, Strategic Market Management: Global Perspectives , John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-470-68975-2, pages 156-7:
  • If such an option is to viable over time, it needs to be protected against competitors. Having patent protection is one route'.

    Derived terms

    * escape route * paper route * scenic route

    Verb

  • To direct or divert along a particular course.
  • All incoming mail was routed through a single office.
  • (Internet) to connect two local area networks, thereby forming an internet
  • To send (information) through a router
  • *
  • Derived terms

    * reroute * router

    See also

    * (Internet) bridge * (Internet) LAN * (Internet) WAN

    Etymology 2

    Verb

    (head)
  • Anagrams

    * ----