n. (also rle) 1 an actor's part in a play, film, etc. 2 a person's or thing's characteristic or expected function (the role of the tape recorder in language-learning). role model a person looked to by others as an example in a particular role. role-playing an exercise in which participants act the part of another character, used in psychotherapy, language-teaching, etc.
[ F rle and obs. F roule, rolle, = ROLL n. ]