Etymology From Middle English rote (“custom, habit, wont, condition, state”), further origin unknown. Found in the Middle English phrase bi rote (“by heart, according to form, expertly”), c. 1300. Some have proposed a relationship either with Old French rote/rute (“route”), or Latin rota (“wheel”) (see rotary), but the OED calls both suggestions groundless. Another explanation might be the metaphorical comparison between anything repetitive and playing the rote.
1
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.
He could perform by rote any of his roles in Shakespeare.
Etymology From Middle English rote (“custom, habit, wont, condition, state”), further origin unknown. Found in the Middle English phrase bi rote (“by heart, according to form, expertly”), c. 1300. Some have proposed a relationship either with Old French rote/rute (“route”), or Latin rota (“wheel”) (see rotary), but the OED calls both suggestions groundless. Another explanation might be the metaphorical comparison between anything repetitive and playing the rote.
1
By repetition or practice and without much thought.
The former may be seen as a more rote form of learning, contrasting with the latter which appears to include "executive" aspects2000, Ami Klin with Fred R. Volkmar and Sara S. Sparrow, Asperger syndrome, page 316:
rote
verb
Etymology From Middle English rote (“custom, habit, wont, condition, state”), further origin unknown. Found in the Middle English phrase bi rote (“by heart, according to form, expertly”), c. 1300. Some have proposed a relationship either with Old French rote/rute (“route”), or Latin rota (“wheel”) (see rotary), but the OED calls both suggestions groundless. Another explanation might be the metaphorical comparison between anything repetitive and playing the rote.
1
Obsolete To go out by rotation or succession; to rotate.
The Model of it was, That a third Part of the Senate or Parliament, ſhould rote out by Ballot every Year; […].1744, Zachary Grey, ann., Hudibras, in Three Parts, Written in the Time of the Late Wars: Corrected and Amended. With Large Annotations, and a Preface, by Zachary Grey, LL.D., vol. 2. Dublin: […] Robert Owen […] and William Brien […]. page 92
2
To learn or repeat by rote.
[Volumnia to Corolianus] "Because that it lies you on to speak/ to th' people, not by your own instruction,/ Nor by th' matter which your heart prompts you,/ But with such words that are but roted in/ your tongue,..." Coriolanus III.ii.52-55
rote
noun
Etymology From Old Norse rót n (“tossing, pitching (of sea)”), perhaps related to rauta (“to roar”); see hrjóta. Compare Middle English routen (“to roar, bellow, storm, rage, howl”).
1
Rare The roar of the surf; the sound of waves breaking on the shore.
rote
noun
Etymology From Middle English rote, from Old French rote, probably of German origin; compare Middle High German rotte, and English crowd (“a kind of violin”).
1
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music 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.
extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds, and rotes1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC: