Rota
Medieval term for a round (a vocal canon), the ancestor of the English round.
What it means
Rota is the medieval Latin term for a round: several voices sing the same melody but enter one after another at a fixed time delay, producing a continuous, canon-like texture. The word literally means "wheel", referring to the melody's constant return.
Musical use
The best-known surviving example of a rota is the English summer canon "Sumer is icumen in" from the 13th century, considered one of the earliest examples of secular polyphony in England. The rota is distinct from the general term canon, under which it is classed as a historical special case: in modern usage, the rota corresponds essentially to the English round, a simple canon that can be repeated cyclically.
Performance practice
Sing a rota at a steady tempo with clear diction, so the voices entering at staggered intervals stay well aligned and the round does not drift apart.