rosa

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈrɔ.sa], [ˈrɔ.saː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɔː.s̬a], [ˈrɔː.s̬a]^[1]

Forms

rosa f (genitive rosae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from a form of Ancient Greek ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”), but the details are unclear; it may have come through another Italic language such as Oscan, or from a dialect form.^[1][2] Köbler notes that the Greek word is itself a loan from Iranian.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found in Cicero (81–43 BC), who says of Verres that he thought spring began when he saw a rose,^[2] and in Lucretius.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It was the rose, the flower, often in a collective singular, as Cicero's cushion stuffed with roses and his in rosa, “lying among roses”.^[2][5] It was also the rose bush, as in Varro, oil of roses in medicine, as in Celsus, and the festival of roses, Rosalia.^[2]

The rose was sacred to Venus, and the word was used as an endearment, “my rose”.^[4][1] In Medieval Latin it also named a kind of comet.^[3] Old English rose was borrowed from it, and it survives as Italian and Spanish rosa.^[6]

Timeline

• 96–55 BC – Lucretius mentions roses in spring.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of roses.^[2][3]
• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the rose bush.^[2][3]
• 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of oil of roses.^[2][3]
• Old English – rose is borrowed from it.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rose (flower).^[2][1]
2. A rose bush.^[2][1]
3. Oil of roses.^[2][3]
4. The festival of roses (Rosalia).^[2]
5. (endearment) Darling.^[1]

Word family

• rosāceus
• Rosālis
• rosāns
• rosārius
• rosātus
• rosētum
• roseus
• rosulentus

Related words

• rosārium
• English rose

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com