Main Entry: ¹rou·lette

Pronunciation: \rü-ˈlet\

Function: noun

Etymology: French, literally, small wheel, from Old French roelete, diminutive of roele wheel, rowel, from Late Latin rotella, diminutive of Latin rota wheel — more at roll

Date: 1745

1 a : a gambling game in which players bet on which compartment of a revolving wheel a small ball will come to rest in b : something involving a high degree of chance and unpredictability
2 a : any of various toothed wheels or disks (as for producing rows of dots on engraved plates or for making short consecutive incisions in paper to facilitate subsequent division) b : tiny slits between rows of stamps in a sheet that are made by a roulette and serve as an aid in separation — compare perforation