ROVER
/ˈɹoʊvɚ/Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2026
Meaning
One who roves: a person or animal that travels around, especially over a wide area, without a fixed destination; a nomad, a roamer, a wanderer.
Etymology
Origin: Middle English
From rove (“to roam, wander; (archery) to shoot an arrow randomly”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns from verbs). Rove is derived from Late Middle English *roven, rove (“to wander”); further etymology uncertain, possibly an English Midlands variant of Northern England raven, rave (“to rove, stray, wander”), possibly from Old Norse ráfa (“to roam, wander”) (although rove and rave are only attested much later), possibly from Proto-Germanic *wabōną, *wabjaną (“to cause to weave; to entangle, wrap”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”).
Synonyms & Antonyms
NYT Puzzle Appearances
Accepted in 1 recorded puzzle: