roti, noun

/ˈrɔti/
Forms:
Formerly also rooti, rootie.
Origin:
Hindi, UrduShow more Hindi and Urdu, ‘bread’.
1. Indian flat-bread or chupatti, cooked (unleavened) on a flat surface. Also attributive, and transferred sense.
Note:
Also used in West Indian and Indian English.
1903 D. Blackburn Burgher Quixote 59‘Oh,’ says he ‘the whiskey is a great healer, and I am nearly well, and if I have some more of it, with some rooti and beef, I shall be all right.’
1961 Z. Mayat Indian Delights 126Roti is unleavened bread made of either white flour or unsifted boermeal with a little shortening, but instead of being baked they were toasted over griddles until they were freckled gold.
1971 Leader 7 May 9 (advt)Only the best is good enough...That’s why I use only Bakers Homo Flour for my roti.
1978 Voice 8 Nov. 7APour a little of melted butter or margarine around the edge of the roti to prevent sticking. Flip over and brown on other side.
1986 F. Karodia Daughters of Twilight 9She was too hot, too bothered and too put out by what Yasmin had said. She fixed her attention on the roti dough.
1988 E. Mphahlele Renewal Time 101As for Indians, they like their curry and rice and roti and money and mosques and temples too much to pretend they want us for next-door neighbours.
1990 E. De la Harpe in Staffrider Vol.9 No.2, 65I am moved by dove-people proffering roti charity.
1992 G. Radowsky in Weekly Mail 24 Apr. 30Her matchless salamies, rotis containing a choice of bean, mutton, mince or chicken curries, enjoy an almost religious following among local office workers, labourers and denizens of the nearby ‘Malay quarter’ of Bokaap.
2. combination
slang Especially among South Africans of Indian descent: roti ou, a Hindi-speaker. See also char ou, ou noun sense 2 b.
1978 L. Barnes in The 1820 Vol.51 No.12, 19The Afrikaans word ou seems to have caught on in Natal just as much as in other parts of the country. There are chaar ous (Indians); roti ous (Hindi speakers) — this name is obviously derived from the fact that roti, a type of flat bread, was an important part of the diet of certain Hindi-speaking Indians.
1992 R. Mesthrie Lexicon of S. Afr. Indian Eng. 116Rōti-ou n. A male of North Indian origin, in whose household rōti..is traditionally a favoured preparation.
Indian flat-bread or chupatti, cooked (unleavened) on a flat surface. Also attributive, and transferred sense.
, a Hindi-speaker.
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rosyntjie, nounn.round-ribbed Afrikander, noun phrasen. phr.
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