noun / adjective
rote
ROHT/rəʊt/
Repetition based on memory rather than understanding.
The learner recalls the shapes by rote but struggles to apply them.
Etymology
Rote originally meant “custom” or “habit” and appeared in a phrase meaning “by heart.” Its later sense of a fixed, unchanging round connects habitual repetition with mechanical memorization.
In context
learning language was completely divorced from any context so they were just having to sort of do rote learning declensions verbs
More examples
- Rote learning helps her recall dates but not explain events.
- He knows the formula by rote but cannot apply it.
- The lesson replaces rote memorization with questions about how things work.
Forms
rote
Similar words
- memorization
- Emphasizes remembering information, without necessarily excluding understanding of it.
- repetition
- Means doing or saying something again, not necessarily from memory.