rosin

[roz-in]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rosin ON THESAURUS.COM

noun Also called colophony.

Chemistry. the yellowish to amber, translucent, hard, brittle, fragmented resin left after distilling the oil of turpentine from the crude oleoresin of the pine: used chiefly in making varnishes, varnish and paint driers, printing inks, and for rubbing on the bows of such string instruments as the violin.

resin.

verb (used with object)

to cover or rub with rosin.

Origin of rosin

1300–50; Middle English < Old French, variant of resine resin

Related formsros·in·y, adjective

Can be confusedresin rosin

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

Related Words for rosin

paste, wax, amber, adhesive, plaster, cement, pitch, glue, mucilage, tar, rosin, exudate, resin

Examples from the Web for rosin

Contemporary Examples of rosin

“Hell, get out of the way,” one researcher, a biologist who conducted early gender-selection studies, tells Rosin.
It’s Not ‘The End of Men’—But They Are in Trouble
Jessica Bennett
September 12, 2012
To show how it all plays out, Rosin spent many months reporting—and, indeed, The End of Men is rigorously researched.
It’s Not ‘The End of Men’—But They Are in Trouble
Jessica Bennett
September 12, 2012
Rosin says her goal is to help men and women learn to navigate these changes, not draw battle lines based on gender.
It’s Not ‘The End of Men’—But They Are in Trouble
Jessica Bennett
September 12, 2012
But Rosin was perhaps the first to string all the economic realities together in such staggering form.
It’s Not ‘The End of Men’—But They Are in Trouble
Jessica Bennett
September 12, 2012

Historical Examples of rosin

Then take them out, dry the bottles, rosin down the corks close, and set them in dry saw-dust with their necks downward.
The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches,
Mary Eaton
The rosin melts and spreads over the leaf, varnishing it beautifully.
Harper's Young People, July 20, 1880
Various
A process of Rosin's, not yet published, is more convenient.
Histology of the Blood
Paul Ehrlich
In the pit was a quantity of rosin sufficient to fill a thousand barrels.
Among the Pines
James R. Gilmore
First melt the beeswax and rosin, being careful not to have the fire too hot.
Walnut Growing in Oregon
Various

British Dictionary definitions for rosin

rosin

noun

Also called: colophony a translucent brittle amber substance produced in the distillation of crude turpentine oleoresin and used esp in making varnishes, printing inks, and sealing waxes and for treating the bows of stringed instruments

(not in technical usage) another name for resin (def. 1)

verb

(tr) to treat or coat with rosin

Derived Formsrosiny, adjective

Word Origin for rosin

C14: variant of resin

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 rosin

late 13c., from Old French raisine, rousine, variants of résine (see resin). The verb is from mid- 14c. Related: Rosined; rosining.

rosin in Medicine

rosin

[rŏz′ĭn]

n.

A translucent yellowish to dark brown resin derived from the stumps or sap of various pine trees and used as an adhesive in plasters and as a stimulant in ointments.