The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Rote \Rote\, n.
   A root. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Rote \Rote\, n. [OE. rote, probably of German origin; cf. MHG.
   rotte, OHG. rota, hrota, LL. chrotta. Cf. Crowd a kind of
   violin.] (Mus.)
   A kind of guitar, the notes of which were produced by a small
   wheel or wheel-like arrangement; an instrument similar to the
   hurdy-gurdy.
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         Well could he sing and play on a rote.   --Chaucer.
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         extracting mistuned dirges from their harps, crowds,
         and rotes.                               --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Rote \Rote\, n. [Cf. Rut roaring.]
   The noise produced by the surf of the sea dashing upon the
   shore. See Rut.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Rote \Rote\, n. [OF. rote, F. route, road, path. See Route,
   and cf. Rut a furrow, Routine.]
   A frequent repetition of forms of speech without attention to
   the meaning; mere repetition; as, to learn rules by rote.
   --Swift.
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         till he the first verse could [i. e., knew] all by
         rote.                                    --Chaucer.
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         Thy love did read by rote, and could not spell. --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Rote \Rote\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Roted; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Roting.]
   To learn or repeat by rote. [Obs.] --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Rote \Rote\, v. i.
   To go out by rotation or succession; to rotate. [Obs.] --Z.
   Grey.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

rote
    n 1: memorization by repetition [syn: rote, rote learning]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

33 Moby Thesaurus words for "rote":
   automatically, commitment to memory, exercise of memory, flashback,
   grind, groove, hindsight, learning by heart, looking back,
   mechanically, memoir, memorization, memorizing, pace, recall,
   recalling, recollecting, recollection, reconsideration, reflection,
   remembering, remembrance, reminiscence, retrospect, retrospection,
   review, ritual, rote memory, routine, rut, study, treadmill,
   unthinkingly