Etymologically
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rosemary

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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.
  • 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