Ruoli

Ruoli is the Italian plural of ruolo, a noun that broadly means role, function, or position. It can refer to a character in a play, a job or duty within an organization, or a function within a system. In Italian, ruoli are used to describe both personal responsibilities and the parts people play in various contexts, including work, culture, and technology.

Etymology

The word derives from the French rôle, meaning a list or roster of names, which in turn traces to Latin rotulus, a small roll or scroll. In Italian, ruolo evolved from the sense of a roster to encompass the more general idea of a function, duty, or capacity, with ruoli forming the corresponding plural.

Usage

In theater, a ruolo denotes a character that an actor portrays. In business and administration, ruoli define responsibilities and authorities within organizations or projects. In linguistics and semiotics, the term is used in the concept of semantic roles to describe the function of entities in events (for example, agent, patient, instrument). In information technology, ruoli (roles) support access control and permissions, such as ruoli di amministratore (administrator roles) or ruoli di lettura (viewer roles). In role-playing games, ruoli determine a character’s abilities and attributes.

See also

Ruolo semantico, role-based access control, theater role, organizational roles. The term is primarily Italian, but it appears in multilingual discussions of roles and responsibilities.