roll
n. countablen. a piece of paper, cloth, or other material that has been wrapped around itself to form a tube shape. You can buy things like a roll of paper towels or a roll of tape.
n. a mass of flexible material, such as paper or cloth, wound into a cylindrical form. This sense is often followed by 'of' and the material in question.
I need a new roll of paper towels.
The photographer loaded a fresh roll of film into his camera before the wedding started.
He unrolled the ancient scroll, a fragile roll of parchment that contained maps of forgotten trade routes and detailed astronomical charts.
From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source. Displaced native English welt.
From Middle English rolle, from Old French rolle, role, roule, from Medieval Latin rotulus (“a roll, list, catalogue, schedule, record, a paper or parchment rolled up”); as such, it is a doublet of role and rotulus.
Typically used in the structure 'a roll of [material]', such as 'a roll of tape' or 'a roll of film'.