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roke

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roke¹

  • /ɹəʊk/

Rhymes with -əʊk

Where it comes from

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 rokes · roak · rook · rouk

  1. UK, countable, dialectal, uncountable Fog, mist; light rain; smoke, vapour; damp.

roke²

  • /ɹəʊk/

Rhymes with -əʊk

Where it comes from

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

noun rokes · roak · rook · rouk

  1. A defect in an ingot of steel: a depression lined with scale. 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, dialectal A measurement of coal ore. 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 whol

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MLA

"roke." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/roke. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

roke. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/roke

Chicago

"roke." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/roke.

BibTeX
@misc{roke_2026,
  title = {roke},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/roke},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}