rosemary

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹəʊzməɹi/ (UK); /ˈɹoʊzˌmɛəɹi/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English rosmarine,^[2][3][4][5] altered by folk etymology through association with rose and the name Mary.^{[2][3][4][6][7]} The Middle English word is from Latin rōsmarīnus, rōs marīnus (“dew of the sea”),^{[2][3][4][5][7]} from rōs (“dew”) and marīnus (“of the sea”) (see marine).^[2][3][4][8] The Middle English word may have come through Old French rosmarin or Middle Dutch rosemarine.^[7][9] The loss of the -n is due to confusion with Mary.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The aromatic evergreen shrub (1373 in Barnhart, and as rosmarine about 1300 in Etymonline).^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The plant may have been called “sea dew” because it grew near coasts;^[4] Skeat says it was named from some fancied link with sea spray.^[9] The form rose-marie is recorded in the late 14th century.^[4] From the 16th century the plant was used as an emblem at funerals and weddings,^[10] and it is the traditional symbol of remembrance.^[11][12] The name was also applied, with qualifying words, to various other plants (1597),^[10] and in Australia to a shrub that Dampier (1703) found “just like rosemary” but without scent.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – rosmarine.^[4]
• 1373 – rosemarye.^[3]
• c. 1440 – first quotation in the OED.^[10]
• 1584 – as an emblem at funerals and weddings.^[10]
• 1597 – applied to other plants.^[10]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An aromatic evergreen shrub of the mint family, native to the Mediterranean, with narrow greyish-green leaves used in cooking and perfumery and pale blue flowers; a traditional emblem of remembrance.
2. The leaves of this plant, used as a seasoning.

Related words

• marine
• rose
• dew
• costmary

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ Morris, Edward E. (1898), Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages, London: Macmillan