rosary

[ roh-zuh-ree ]

/ ˈroʊ zə ri /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rosary ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural ro·sa·ries.

Roman Catholic Church.

a series of prayers, usually consisting of 15 decades of aves, each decade being preceded by a paternoster and followed by a Gloria Patri, one of the mysteries or events in the life of Christ or the Virgin Mary being recalled at each decade.
a string of beads used for counting these prayers during their recitation.
a similar string of beads consisting of five decades.

(among other religious bodies) a string of beads similarly used in praying.

a rose garden or a bed of roses.

RELATED WORDS

chaplet

Nearby words

rosanne, rosarian, rosario, rosario strait, rosarium, rosary, rosary pea, rosas, rosas, juan manuel de, rosbif, roscian

Origin of rosary

1350–1400 for earlier sense; 1400–50 for sense “rose garden”; 1540–50 for def 1; Middle English rosarie < Medieval Latin rosārium, in all current senses, Latin: rose garden, equivalent to ros(a) rose¹ + -ārium -ary

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rosary

On Wednesday mornings before mass, he recites the rosary in a special prayer of liberation from the chains of the devil.
Vatican and Pope Francis Seek New Demon Exorcists|Barbie Latza Nadeau|January 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The parishioners began saying the Rosary as a call went in to 911.
As 2014 Began, a Fateful Path to a Catholic Priest’s Murder|Michael Daly|January 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The faithful were still saying the Rosary when the officers informed them that they had to leave.
As 2014 Began, a Fateful Path to a Catholic Priest’s Murder|Michael Daly|January 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Stigler pressed his hand over the rosary he kept in his flight jacket.
Finding Humanity in the Darkness|Justin Green|March 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Maradona spent much of the game frantically gesticulating and clutching his rosary.
World Cup Primer|Joshua Robinson|June 12, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The Infant Saviour is turned towards her, and with one hand he crowns her with thorns, with the other he presents the rosary.
Walks in Rome|Augustus J.C. Hare
A rosary of large pearls was about his neck, and with this exception he wore no ornaments.
Confessions of a Thug|Philip Meadows Taylor
Some of Marie's "junk" was in his bag; her rosary lay in his breastpocket, along with the pin he had sent her at Christmas.
The Street of Seven Stars|Mary Roberts Rinehart
We stooped at a great wooden cross, on which an officer's Rosary hung; and then I saw the birds.
Behind the Scenes in Warring Germany|Edward Lyell Fox
Half led, half carried, I went staggering on beside him like a drunken man, clutching a rosary and a packet of love-letters.
Slippy McGee, Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man|Marie Conway Oemler

British Dictionary definitions for rosary

rosary

/ (ˈrəʊzərɪ) /

noun plural -saries

RC Church

a series of prayers counted on a string of beads, usually consisting of five or 15 decades of Aves, each decade beginning with a Paternoster and ending with a Gloria
a string of 55 or 165 beads used to count these prayers as they are recited

(in other religions) a similar string of beads used in praying

a bed or garden of roses

an archaic word for garland (def. 1)

Word Origin for rosary

C14: from Latin rosārium rose garden, from rosārius of roses, from rosa rose 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for rosary

rosary

"rose garden," mid-15c., from Latin rosarium "rose garden," in Medieval Latin also "garland; string of beads; series of prayers," from noun use of neuter of rosarius "of roses," from rosa "rose" (see rose (n.1)).

The sense of "series of prayers" is 1540s, from Middle French rosaire, a figurative use of the word meaning "rose garden," on the notion of a "garden" of prayers. This probably embodies the medieval conceit of comparing collections to bouquets (cf. anthology and Medieval Latin hortulus animae "prayerbook," literally "little garden of the soul"). Sense transferred 1590s to the strings of beads used as a memory aid in reciting the rosary.

Medicine definitions for rosary

rosary

[ rō′zə-rē ]

n.

An arrangement or structure that is beadlike in appearance.

Culture definitions for rosary

rosary

A set of prayers common in the Roman Catholic Church, said during meditation on events in the lives of Jesus and of Mary, the mother of Jesus. A rosary is also the string of beads that the worshiper uses to count the prayers.