Round-robin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the term in computer science, see round-robin scheduling.

For the term in sports tournaments, see round-robin tournament.

The term round-robin describes correspondence to a single address authored or signed by numerous individuals (as found in a petition).

Colloquially, however, 'round-robin' is frequently given an opposite meaning, being used to describe a letter with an author copied and sent to multiple recipients. For example, the sending of family news at Christmas. This is more correctly termed a circular.

In sport, round-robin refers to every player or team in a group or pool taking turns to play one another a set number of times. This may be called the group stage (or phase) of a tournament, prior to the knock-out stage. (See Round-robin tournament for article).

In aviation, a round-robin flight is a cross-country flight which starts at one airport, travels to several other points for fly-over or touch-and-goes, and returns to the airport of origin. Such flights are often flown for cross-country training purposes.

[edit] Origin

The modern use of the term dates from the 17th Century French ruban rond (round ribbon) ^[1]^[2]. This described the practice of signatories to petitions against authority (usually Government officials petitioning the Crown) appending their names on a document in a non-hierarchical circle or ribbon pattern (and so disguising the order in which they have signed) in order that none may be identified as a ringleader.

This practice was adopted by sailors petitioning officers in the British Royal Navy (first recorded 1731)^[2] .

The term round-robin is recorded in English much earlier, although not with the above meaning. It first appears in 1546 (with meaning unknown) and appears later applied to a category of person (precise meaning unknown): "These Wat Tylers and Round-Robins being driven or persuaded out of Whitehall" (1671)^[2]. In a recent poll, the term "Round Robin" was voted #61 of favorite phrases used.