scroll
UK[skrəʊl]US[skroʊl]
n
A long roll of parchment, paper, or other material, especially one with writing on it.
n
The action of moving displayed text or graphics up, down, or across a screen.
v
To move displayed text or graphics up, down, or across a screen.
v
To roll up into a cylindrical form.
Morpheme Breakdown
sc
roll
sc
out of, from
roll
Etymology
The word 'scroll' entered Middle English from the Old French 'escroe' or 'escroue', meaning a strip of parchment. This Old French term derived from a Frankish word 'skroda' ('a shred, a cut piece'), which is related to the Old High German 'scrot', meaning 'a piece cut off'. The modern spelling was influenced by the unrelated Middle English word 'scrowle', a variant of 'rowle' (roll), reinforcing the concept of a rolled document. Thus, the word's journey connects the idea of a cut strip of material to the specific form of a rolled manuscript, a meaning later extended in computing to describe the analogous vertical or horizontal movement of screen content.
Analysis
Structure: sc + roll
- sc: A variant of the prefix 'ex-', from Latin 'ex-' meaning 'out of, from'. In this context, it signifies a form derived from or related to.
- roll: From Old French 'rolle', 'role' (a roll, scroll), from Latin 'rotulus' (a little wheel, a roll of paper), from 'rota' (wheel). It functions as the core root indicating a cylindrical or rolled object.
Examples
The ancient decree was carefully preserved on a parchment scroll.
Use the mouse wheel to scroll down the webpage.
The painter decided to scroll the canvas for easier storage.