rose

Forms

rōse f (nominative plural rōsan or rōsa) (weak n-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rosa (“rose”), one of the Latin loans that Durkin places probably after 650.^[1][2] It became a weak feminine noun, with the plural ⟨rōsan⟩ beside ⟨rōsa⟩.^[1] Durkin gives the vowel as long or short, and Toller's Supplement also suggests a short vowel.^[3][4] The same Latin word gave Old Norse rós and Old High German rōsa.^[5][6]

The Latin noun is connected with Ancient Greek ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”), which Köbler takes to be a loan from Iranian; how the Latin form arose is not clear.^[5][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in two manuscripts of the mid-tenth century.^[8][9] In the Old English Boethius the strong north-east wind toweorpð ... swiðe hraþe þære rosan wlite, “very quickly destroys the beauty of the rose”.^[8][10] Bald's Leechbook prescribes a remedy mixed wið eced & rosan seaw, “with vinegar and the juice of roses”.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

The plant-name dictionary takes it for the native species of the genus Rosa, with 28 occurrences.^[11] Besides its use in medicine, it is a symbol in Ælfric, for whom the blossoms of roses signify martyrdom by their redness.^[6] In glosses it renders Latin “rosa”, and the compound wudurōse names the wild rose.^[6][4]

The English word continues the Old English noun together with Old French rose and the Latin: Middle English rose, now English rose.^[12][13]

Timeline

• s. x med. – þære rosan wlite “the beauty of the rose” in the Old English Boethius.^[8][10]
• s. x med. – rosan seaw “juice of roses” in Bald's Leechbook.^[9][10]
• s. x/xi – the rose in the Old English Martyrology.^[14][10]
• c1275 – Middle English Þe rose also mid hire rude in The Owl and the Nightingale.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. a rose, a plant of the genus Rosa, and its flower.^[6][11][5]

Word family

• wudurōse

Descendants

• Middle English rose (→ English rose; Scots rose)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Durkin, Philip (2014), Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 116-117
3. ^ Durkin, Philip (2014), Borrowed Words: A History of Loanwords in English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 117
4. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 690
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. rōse
6. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 802
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 296
9. ^ a b c Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 412
10. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
11. ^ a b Bierbaumer, Peter; Sauer, Hans; Klug, Helmut W.; Krischke, Ulrike, eds. (2007–), Dictionary of Old English Plant Names, Graz, oldenglish-plantnames.org, p. s.v. rōse
12. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 281