Roof

Roof

Noun / Verb · /ruːf/ · the top covering of a building; to provide or cover with a roof

Definition

A roof is the upper covering of a building or other structure, designed to protect what is below from weather, heat, and the elements. Every building has one in some form — flat, pitched, arched, domed, thatched, tiled, or slated. As a verb, to roof a building means to put a roof on it. Roof also appears in figurative expressions: under one roof means in the same building or household; through the roof means extremely high; raise the roof means to cause a commotion or to celebrate loudly.

Origin

From Old English hrōf, meaning roof, ceiling, or top, which goes back to Proto-Germanic roots shared with Dutch and Old Norse. The Old English word was used for both the top of a building and the sky — the roof of the world. The word has changed very little in spelling or meaning since the Anglo-Saxon period. Its pronunciation, however, has shifted: hrōf had a long vowel, which survives in the modern British pronunciation with the long oo sound.