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Added 10 October 2026

roost

/ɹuːst/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about roost at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A shelter with perches for fowl or other birds.
A perch on which domestic fowl rest or sleep.

verb

Sit, as on a branch.
The birds perched high in the tree
Settle down or stay, as if on a roost.

Origin

From Middle English roste (“chicken's roost; perch”), from Old English hrōst (“wooden framework of a roof; roost”), from Proto-West Germanic *hrōst, from Proto-Germanic *hrōstaz (“wooden framework; grill”); see *raustijan. Cognate with Dutch roest (“roost”), German Low German Rust (“roost”), German Rost (“grate; gridiron; grill”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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