rosewood

Etymology

It is formed from English rose + wood;^[2][3][4][5] in its first sense it follows New Latin lignum rhodium (“rhodium wood”).^[2] The Latin name is probably from Latin lignum (“wood”) and Rhodius (“of Rhodes”), though it has also been explained as "rose-scented", from Ancient Greek ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”).^[2] The first English record, of 1633, already takes the second view: the wood smells like a rose, "whence they vulgarly call it Lignum Rhodium, Rose-wood, rather than from Rhodes".^[2] Etymonline and Brewer likewise explain the name by the rose-like scent of some species when freshly cut.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fragrant wood of two Canary Island bindweeds, from which a rose-scented oil is obtained: 1633, in T. Johnson's edition of Gerard's Herball.^[2] The 1989 edition of the OED had dated this sense to 1671.^[7]

Semantic evolution

From 1660 the name passed to the valuable close-grained timber of tropical trees, mostly of the genus Dalbergia, especially the Brazilian species;^[2][8][7] Etymonline describes it as first the wood of various Brazilian trees, later applied to similar woods from elsewhere.^[3] With a distinguishing word it was given from 1755 to other trees with similar timber,^[2] from 1756 to West Indian trees of the genus Amyris,^[2] and since 1779 to several Australasian trees with fragrant or reddish wood;^[2] Morris's Austral English (1898) lists three Australian timbers called rosewood.^[9] By 1897 the word also named the reddish-brown colour of the wood.^[2] In American slang it has been recorded for a police nightstick.^[10]

Timeline

• 1633 – the fragrant wood of two Canary Island bindweeds.^[2]
• 1660 – the fragrant, close-grained timber of tropical trees of the genus Dalbergia.^[2][8][7] Etymonline and Dictionary.com date the word to the 1650s.^[3][5]
• 1755 – with a distinguishing word, other trees with timber like rosewood.^[2]
• 1756 – West Indian trees of the genus Amyris.^[2]
• 1779 – Australasian trees with fragrant or reddish wood.^[2]
• 1897 – the reddish-brown colour of rosewood.^[2]
• 1970 – American slang, a police nightstick.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. The hard, dark reddish or purplish wood, streaked with black, of various tropical trees, chiefly of the genus Dalbergia, valued for cabinetwork.^{[8][11][4][2]}
2. Any of the trees that yield this wood.^[8][11]
3. With a distinguishing word, any of various other trees with similar or fragrant timber, such as Australian rosewood.^[2][8][4]
4. The fragrant wood of two Canary Island bindweeds, from which a rose-scented oil is obtained.^[2][7]
5. A reddish-brown colour like that of the wood.^[2]

Related words

• rose
• wood
• rhodium

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Brewer, E. Cobham (1898), Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, new ed., London: Cassell
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Morris, Edward E. (1898), Austral English: A Dictionary of Australasian Words, Phrases and Usages, London: Macmillan
10. ^ a b Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry, eds. (2013), The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 2nd ed., London: Routledge
11. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin