roof

From Middle English rof, from Old English hrōf (“roof, ceiling; top, summit; heaven, sky”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōfą (“roof”), from Proto-Indo-European *krāpo- (“roof”), from Proto-Indo-European *krāwǝ- (“to cover, heap”).

Cognate with Scots ruif (“roof”), Dutch roef (“a cabin, wooden cover, deckhouse”), Low German rof (“roof”), Icelandic hróf (“a shed under which ships are built or kept, roof of a boathouse”).

• IPA^(key): /ɹuːf/, /ɹʊf/

• Audio (US)

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  US (2)

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• Audio (UK)

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• Audio (CA)

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• Rhymes: -ʊf, -uːf

roof (plural rooves or roofs)

1. The external covering at the top of a building.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     'Twas the house I'd seen the roof of from the beach.

   • 1931, Robert L. May, Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Montgomery Ward (publisher), draft:

     The very first sound that you’ll hear on the roof
     (Provided there’s fog) will be Rudolph’s small hoof.

   • 1984, Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three, "The Roof Is on Fire":

     The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire!
     We don't need no water: Let the motherfucker burn!
     Burn, motherfucker, burn!

   The roof was blown off by the tornado.

2. The top external level of a building.
   • 1962, Gerry Goffin & al., "Up on the Roof":

     When this old world starts getting me down
     And people are just too much for me to face,
     I climb way up to the top of the stairs
     And all my cares just drift right into space
     On the roof, it's peaceful as can be
     And there, the world below can't bother me...

   Let's go up to the roof.

3. The upper part of a cavity.
   • 2011 October 1, John Sinnott, “Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan”, in BBC Sport:

     As Bent pulled away to the far post, Agbonlahor opted to go it alone, motoring past Gary Caldwell before unleashing a shot into the roof of the net.

   The palate is the roof of the mouth.

4. (mining) The surface or bed of rock immediately overlying a bed of coal or a flat vein.

• Both roofs and rooves are listed as plurals in the Oxford Dictionary of English, 2005 edition, though there seems to be differences in usage between Britain and America.

• (cover at top of building): rooftop, tect (obsolete, rare), thatch
• (in a cavity): ceiling

roof (third-person singular simple present roofs, present participle roofing, simple past and past participle roofed)

1. To cover or furnish with a roof.
2. To traverse buildings by walking or climbing across their roofs.
3. (slang) To put into prison for not a short time.
   • 1998 March 4, “Law and Disorder”, in Beverly Hills, 90210, season 08, episode 22:

     Did you see them, David? I mean, did you see them looking at me? I-I'm walking out of the court, and everybody was practically – yeah, they were gawking. […] I mean, Noah roofed me, I proved it, end of story.

   • 2000 January 1, Mr. Metaphor (lyrics), “Stupid”, in The Will Tell Compilation Vol. 1: Thats Right Inc., performed by Word A' Mouth, Block McCloud and Mr. Metaphor:

     I’m open, hype off the chronic I was smoking, feeling zooted
     That Brooklyn shit got me stupid
     I’m loose, kid – that’s what the overproof did
     What the ruck you looking at, son? You’ll get roofed, kid!

   • 2012 November 15, “Brown Bag Wrap”, in Rare Chandeliers, performed by Action Bronson:

     Inhale the mystical, the blue shit
     See me on the stoop shit, act stupid at the park, the ball, get roofed
     Baby see the cops, the drugs, she boofed it
     Foie gras at every meal, that means I triple-goosed it

   • 2018 May 5, AM (lyrics), “Attempted 1.0”, performed by Skengdo and AM of 410:

     You don’t want war, you’re shook of it
     Hella man dash when their friend got roofed

• roofer
• unroof

• Foor, O for

From Middle Dutch roof, from Old Dutch *rōf, *rouf, from Proto-Germanic *raubaz. More at robe.

• IPA^(key): /roːf/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -oːf

roof m (plural roven, diminutive roofje n)

1. robbery, robbing, banditry, rapine

• bankroof
• broodroof
• roofdier
• roofridder

• rover

roof

1. first-person singular present indicative of roven
2. imperative of roven

roof

1. Alternative form of rof