Contextual Role
A Role describes how an entity participates within a particular context.
Specification-sourced: quoted from the governing specification, pending the applicable specification-owner approvals. The specification controls.
In RSMOne's words
A regional mill can be processor in one Formation, buyer in another and evidence provider in a research context without contradiction, because each role is bound to its context. Roles may carry temporal validity, and an expired role remains part of the entity's history.
What it is not
Contextual Role ≠ Domain Type
A contextual role describes how an entity participates in a particular context; a domain type describes what it is understood to be within a domain. 03 §8.2 · Domain Type Is Not Role
Contextual Role ≠ Identity
Roles change across contexts and over time while identity endures, so a role is never a permanent identity attribute. 02 §9.2 · Context-Bound Roles