I realize that Merriam Webster's Dictionary allows "r\^ole" as an alternate spelling (the Oxford English Dictionary does not, as far as I can see online).
A copy on my desk of the OED from the '70s does.
However, I have never seen it spelled with the circumflex accent anywhere outside of mathematics.
There certainly are examples. Not to hand right now.
So why is it that so many mathematical authors spell it that way? One explanation would be that the authors are French; however, this does not seem to be empirically true. I have most often seen the spelling used by non-French authors. Another possible explanation is that the word "r\^ole" has a technical meaning that differentiates it from "role". However, I can't imagine what it would be.
Maybe this habit has been passed on for generations. Can it perhaps be traced back to a misspelling in some influential article?
I think it's quite generational/educational. People (at least in the UK) who have been taught English in a grammatically and etymologcally rigorous way will tend to use the accent (ditto in café and others) resolve the phonics (and, secondarily, respect the etymology). Perhaps mathematicians are strongly represented in this group. It's not a mis-spelling. djp
-- Peter
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