rose window

American  

noun

1. a circular window decorated with tracery symmetrical about the center.

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rose window British  

noun

1. Also called: wheel window.   rosette.  a circular window, esp one that has ornamental tracery radiating from the centre to form a symmetrical roselike pattern

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Etymology

Origin of rose window

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

An untitled 2006 work by Scottish artist Richard Wright is a secular re-imagining of an ecclesiastical rose window.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 21, 2024

The fugitives entered and left the attic through a rose window, usually under the cover of darkness.

From Reuters • May 4, 2022

In Amatrice, known as the town of “100 churches,” at least 15 were destroyed — including Sant’Agostino, a 15th-century structure decorated with elaborate frescoes and a rose window on its facade.

From Washington Post • Aug. 27, 2016

Its visual gags, one involving a rose window, are more clever than that.

From New York Times • Jul. 20, 2015

The tracery of the rose window for the front of the cathedral was carefully cut according to the plans.

From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay