rôle

plural rôles

1. oftenpoeticDated spelling of role.

   We have referred to the Bull many times, both in his astronomical aspect as pioneer of the Spring-Sun, and in his more direct rôle as plougher of the fields[.]

   1920, Edward Carpenter, Pagan and Christian Creeds, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., page 81

   4 more examples

   Somehow, I was not quite as elated as I might have been. I remembered that Cynthia had begun her confidences in much the same way. Besides, a father confessor should be elderly, it is not at all the rôle for a young man.

   1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 141

   Finally the Negro had played a peculiar spiritual rôle in America as a sort of living, breathing test of our ideals and an example of the faith, hope and tolerance of our religion.

   1924, W. E. B. DuBois, The Gift of Black Folk: The Negroes in the Making of America, The Stratford Co.: The Stratford Co., page iv

   2006, Ricardo Bermúdez-Otero, Phonological change in Optimality Theory, in Keith Brown (ed.), Encyclopedia of language and linguistics [2nd edn., vol. 9], 497–505. Oxford: Elsevier. Thus, diachronic reductionists follow Ohala in emphasizing the rôle of the parser in phonologization and downplaying the contribution of higher principles of grammatical organization.

   As the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations wind down, it may be well to reflect on an aspect of public choice theory which supports constitutional monarchy — principally its rôle as a brake upon self-aggrandising politicians.

   2012, Stephen MacLean, A cheer for constitutional monarchy's restraint on government, Adam Smith Institute