round robin

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See also: round-robin

English

WOTD – 1 August 2024

Etymology

A 17th-century round robin (sense 1.1) addressed by sailors to a ship’s captain, stating that if they were not paid their allowances and the ship was not restocked with food, they would refuse to raise the anchor.
A round scad (Decapterus punctatus), often known in the Caribbean and United States as a round robin (sense 2.1).
The fishing frog or sea devil (Lophius piscatorius) was also formerly called a round robin (sense 2.2.1) in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom.
Round robin (sense 2.2.2) is an archaic name for the red campion (Silene dioica).

From round (adjective) +‎ robin.[1][2] Sense 1 (“senses relating to something with a round shape, or which goes around”) is connected with the word round, while sense 2 (“senses relating to people, animals, or plants”) is connected with some English regional senses of the word robin where it is used in the names of various fish and plants which are not related to the red-breasted bird.[3] However, apart from the alliteration, it is not clear why the two words came to be linked together in compounds. It is possible that the term was first used to refer to sense 1.13.1 (“consecrated host”) which appears to be the earliest attested sense, and then extended to other senses either having the sense of round or robin.[1]

Alternatively, it has been suggested that the term is a corruption of French ruban rond (literally “round ribbon”), referring to the practice in 17th-century France of signing on ribbons which were then attached to petitions of grievances in a circular manner:[4] see sense 1.1. However, this etymology does not explain the senses of the term unrelated to a signed document.

Pronunciation

Noun

round robin (plural round robins)

  2. (also attributive) Senses relating to something with a round shape, or which goes around.
    2. (originally nautical) A document (usually containing a complaint or petition) originally with the signatures arranged in a circle, and later often alphabetically, to disguise the order of signing and to indicate that the signatories are collectively responsible for it.
      • 1724, Charles Johnson [pseudonym], “Of Captain [Henry] Anstis, and His Crew”, in A General History of the Pyrates, , 2nd edition, London: Printed for, and sold by T. Warner, , →OCLC, pages 332–333:
        This being approved of, it vvas unanimouſly reſolved on, and the undervvritten Petition dravvn up and ſigned by the vvhole Company in the Manner of vvhat they call a Round Robin, that is, the Names vvere vvrit in a Circle, to avoid all Appearance of Pre-eminence, and leaſt any Perſon ſhould be mark'd out by the Government, as a principal Rogue among them.
      • 1731 June 16 (Gregorian calendar), “A View of the Weekly Disputes and Essays in this Month. ”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine: Or, Monthly Intelligencer, volume I, number VI, London: F. Jefferies, , published June 1731, →OCLC, page 238, column 2:
        [T]he Method uſed by Sailors vvhen they mutiny, by ſigning their Names in an orbicular manner, vvhich they call, a round Robin; vvhence the Phraſe, VVe have him as round as a Robin.
      • 1791, James Boswell, quoting William Forbes, “”, in James Boswell, editor, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. , volume II, London: Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, , →OCLC, page 92:
        The Epitaph, vvritten for him [Oliver Goldsmith] by Dr. [Samuel] Johnſon, became the ſubject of converſation, and various emendations vvere ſuggested, vvhich it vvas agreed ſhould be ſubmitted to the Doctor's conſideration. But the queſtion vvas, vvho ſhould have the courage to propoſe them to him? At laſt it vvas hinted, that there could be no vvay ſo good as that of a Round Robin, as the ſailors call it, vvhich they make uſe of vvhen they enter into a conſpiracy, ſo as not to let it be knovvn vvho puts his name firſt or laſt to the paper.
      • 1847 March 30, Herman Melville, “The Round Robin—Visitors from Shore”, in Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; , London: John Murray, , →OCLC, pages 75–76:
        [page 75] Making use of the stationery thus provided, I indited, upon a chest-lid, a concise statement of our grievances; concluding with the earnest hope, that the consul would at once come off, and see how matters stood, for himself. Right beneath the note was described the circle about which the names were to be written; the great object of a Round Robin being to arrange the signatures in such a way, that, although they are all found in a ring, no man can be picked out as the leader of it. […] [page 76] Folded, and sealed with a drop of tar, the Round Robin was directed to "The English Consul, Tahiti;" and, handed to the cook, was by him delivered into that gentleman's hands as soon as the mate went ashore.
      • 1897, Bram Stoker, “Cutting from ‘The Dailygraph,’ 8 August (Pasted in Mina Murray’s Journal.) From a Correspondent.”, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC, chapter VII, page 92:
        There seems some doom over this ship. Already a hand short, and entering on the Bay of Biscay with wild weather ahead, and yet last night another man lost—disappeared. Like the first, he came off his watch and was not seen again. Men all in a panic of fear; sent a round robin, asking to have double watch, as they fear to be alone.
      • 1911, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “The Return Home”, in Peter and Wendy, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 233:
        Some of them wanted it to be an honest ship and others were in favour of keeping it a pirate; but the captain treated them as dogs, and they dared not express their wishes to him even in a round robin.
    3. A letter which is reproduced and sent to several people; specifically, one containing personal news sent at a particular time of year, often Christmas; a circular letter.
    4. A letter or piece of writing which is circulated among members of a group, to which each person makes a contribution before sending it to another person; also, a packet of letters circulated regularly in a fixed order among a group (often family members), whereby each person replaces their previous contribution with a new letter, and then sends the packet to the next recipient.
      Synonym: circle letter
      a round-robin novel
    5. A form of trading involving a packet of items which is circulated among members of a group, whereby each person take the items they want and replaces them with items of similar value, and then sends the packet to the next recipient.
      Stamp collectors sometimes exchange stamps with each other using a round-robin method.
    6. (figurative) A long, often tedious, list or piece of writing; a laundry list, a litany.
      • 1816, S[amuel] T[aylor] Coleridge, “[Appendix, Containing Comments and Essays.] Appendix C.”, in The Statesman’s Manual; or The Bible the Best Guide to Political Skill and Foresight: , London: for Gale and Fenner, ; J. M. Richardson, ; and Hatchard, , →OCLC, pages xxi–xxii:
        Think only what your feelings would be if you heard a wretch deliberately perjure himself in support of an infamous accusation, so remote from all fact, so smooth and homogeneous in its untruth, such a round robin of mere lies, that you knew not which to begin with?
    7. (computing) A method of making use of several similar subsystems, assigning tasks to each of them in turn (for example, sending data to a destination down several communication links in turn to achieve greater combined speed).
    8. (gambling) A form of bet on the full set of possible combinations from a group of events, racehorses, teams, etc., such as the outcomes A and B, B and C, and A and C from a group consisting of A, B, and C.
    9. (music) The MIDI technique of using different sampled versions of the same sound for successive notes, to avoid an unnaturally repetitive effect.
      • 2019 August 15, L. J. Howard, Tommy Gordon, “Computing Resources (CPU) Tips”, in Music Production Tips, Tricks, and Secrets, : Fretboard Media Group, →ISBN:
        If you load a saxophone sound, for example, the library gives you the entire range of the instrument, with round robins, and a depth of velocity-triggered samples for each note.
    10. (online gaming) A method of dividing loot among a party of players by having the game assign loot, or an enemy corpse to loot, to each player in turn.
    11. (Devon, archaic) A small pancake.
    12. (originally US) A group activity in which the members take turns to perform an action.
      • 1963 January, W[illiam] J[ohn] Youden, “Ranking Laboratories by Round-robin Tests”, in Harry H. Ku, editor, Precision Measurement and Calibration: Selected NBS Papers on Statistical Concepts and Procedures (NBS Special Publication; 300), volume 1, Washington, D.C.: National Bureau of Standards, United States Department of Commerce, published February 1969, →OCLC, page 165-9, column 1:
        Round robins are undertaken for a variety of motives: (1) to accumulate data that may be used to determine the precision and accuracy of a new or modified test procedure, (2) to recheck an established procedure to ascertain whether there has been a deterioration in the accuracy arising from departures from the prescribed routine, (3) to test the applicability of an established procedure to new materials, and (4) to maintain a periodic check on the performance of a group of laboratories. […] There is the risk of wasting much effort if a full-scale round robin reveals a diversity among the results that can only be explained by shortcomings and ambiguities in the instructions for performing the test.
      • 1975 March, Glenn R. Waterbury , “Nuclear Materials (Fuels)”, in Richard W. Seward, editor, Standard Reference Materials and Meaningful Measurements: Proceedings of the 6th Materials Research Symposium Sponsored by the Institute of Materials Research, National Bureau of Standards, October 29 through November 2, 1973, Gaithersburg, Maryland (National Bureau of Standards Special Publication; 408), Washington, D.C.: Institute for Materials Research, National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce, →OCLC, page 645:
        The value of interlaboratory tests or round robins has been significant in the FFTF programs. They have shown biases, problems with contamination from containers, and the need for standards. This information has led to prompt correction of problems; whereas, a single laboratory might have considerable difficulty in identifying such difficulties.
    13. (originally US, sports, often attributive) The part of a tournament in which every player or team competes against each of the others in turn.
      • 2023 September 17, “Japan’s women victorious in Olympic volleyball qualifying opener”, in The Japan Times‎, Tokyo: The Japan Times, Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-05-30:
        At Tokyo's Yoyogi National Gymnasium, Japan defended well and attacked with ease, facing only moderate resistance in a 25-9, 25-19, 25-15 victory in the eight-team round robin, with two berths in next year's Paris Olympics up for grabs.
      • 2024 June 24, Jack McKessy, “Breakdancing is making its Olympics debut at Paris 2024. Here’s when you can watch”, in USA Today‎, McLean, Va.: Gannett Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2024-07-31:
        Sixteen men and sixteen women will compete for their respective gold medals in the inaugural edition of Olympic breaking. Each of the competitions are a one-day tournament that begins with round-robin competitions before quarterfinal and semifinal stages that lead into the medal events.
    14. (obsolete except historical)
      2. (Christianity, derogatory) The consecrated host used in the Eucharist.
        • 1659, Thomas Fuller, “The Fifth Book. Relating to the Time of King Henry the Eighth.”, in The Appeal of Iniured Innocence: Unto the Religious Learned and Ingenious Reader: In a Controversie betwixt the Animadvertor Dr. Peter Heylyn and the Author Thomas Fuller, London: W. Godbid, and are to be sold by John Williams , →OCLC, part II, page 60:
          [T]he Sacrament of the Altar, is nothing elſe but a piece of bread, or a little predie Round-Robin.
      3. (clothing) A small ruff worn around the neck.
        • July 8 (Gregorian calendar), T. J. [i.e., Jeremy Taylor], An Apology for Private Preaching. , : R. Wood, T. Wilson, and E. Christopher, →OCLC, signature , recto:
          In the dayes of King Arthur of Bradley, and his four hundred forty ſixe Elders of the Round Table, the firſt men that ever vvore Round-Robins, there lived a Paſtor vvhoſe Fame (you all have had a ſpice of) called Cornelius, […] it vvas his Fate by the heat of overmuch Devotion, to conclude his dayes, and preach his ovvn Funerall Sermon.
    15. (obsolete, road transport) A rim attached to the end of an axle of a horse carriage to prevent dirt from obstructing the axle's rotation; also, a loop from which a component of a horse carriage (such as a pole or spring) is suspended.
      • , New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton , →OCLC, page 669, column 1:
        Cut′too-plate. A hood above the nave or hub of a vehicle, to prevent the street mud from falling upon the axle and becoming ground in between the axle-box and spindle. Otherwise called a dirt-board, or round robbin. It is attached to the axle or bolster.]
  4. Senses relating to people, animals, or plants.
    2. (chiefly Caribbean, US) Any of various marine fish of the genus Decapterus often called scads which have a body with an almost round cross section, especially the round scad (Decapterus punctatus); also, any of various other fish regarded as having a somewhat round shape.
    3. (archaic)
      2. (Cornwall) The fishing frog or sea devil (Lophius piscatorius), a species of monkfish.
      4. (southwest England) Any of various hedgerow plants with pink flowers, especially the red campion (Silene dioica).
    4. (obsolete)
      1. A chiefly derogatory nickname for a man.
      2. (Canada, US, rare) A freshwater sunfish native to eastern North America, either the pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) or the redbreast sunfish (Lepomis auritus).

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “round robin, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.
  2. ^ “round robin, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
  3. ^ “robin, n.1”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2024.
  4. ^ Robert Hendrickson (2008) “round robin”, in The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, 4th edition, New York, N.Y.: Checkmark Books, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 716, column 1.

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