Rose - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms

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SKIP TO CONTENT rose /roʊz/ /rəʊz/ IPA guide

Other forms: roses

A rose is a flower that people in love give each other. Even though Juliet says to Romeo, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” don’t go calling it a dandelion.

Roses have multi-layered petals and smell wonderfully sweet. They come in a wide variety of colors that can convey various meanings: a single red rose, for example, sometimes means, "I love you." Rose is also the past tense of rise, as in “Yesterday, the water rose to the top.” As an adjective, rose means "pink," and when the word is pronounced row-SAY, it means a rose-colored wine. The Latin source of rose is rosa, which probably comes from an Iranian root.

Definitions of rose

noun any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses synonyms: rosebush see moresee less types: show 11 types... hide 11 types... Rosa pendulina, mountain rose European alpine rose with crimson flowers Rosa spithamaea, ground rose low-growing bristly shrub of southern Oregon and California with creeping rootstocks and usually corymbose flowers Rosa banksia, banksia rose Chinese evergreen climbing rose with yellow or white single flowers Rosa canina, dog rose prickly wild rose with delicate pink or white scentless flowers; native to Europe Bengal rose, China rose, Rosa chinensis shrubby Chinese rose; ancestor of many cultivated garden roses Rosa damascena, damask rose, summer damask rose large hardy very fragrant pink rose; cultivated in Asia Minor as source of attar of roses; parent of many hybrids Rosa eglanteria, briar, brier, eglantine, sweetbriar, sweetbrier Eurasian rose with prickly stems and fragrant leaves and bright pink flowers followed by scarlet hips Cherokee rose, Rosa laevigata Chinese climbing rose with fragrant white blossoms Japanese rose, Rosa multiflora, baby rose, multiflora, multiflora rose vigorously growing rose having clusters of numerous small flowers; used for hedges and as grafting stock Rosa moschata, musk rose rose native to Mediterranean region having curved or climbing branches and loose clusters of musky-scented flowers Rosa odorata, tea rose any of several hybrid bush roses derived from a tea-scented Chinese rose with pink or yellow flowers type of: bush, shrub a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
noun a dusty pink color synonyms: rosiness see moresee less types: old rose a greyish-pink color type of: pink a light shade of red
adjective of something having a dusty purplish pink color synonyms: rosaceous, roseate chromatic being, having, or characterized by hue
noun pinkish table wine from red grapes whose skins were removed after fermentation began synonyms: blush wine, pink wine, rose wine see moresee less type of: vino, wine fermented juice (of grapes especially)

Pronunciation US /roʊz/ UK /rəʊz/ Cite this entry Style: MLA

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Copy citation DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘rose'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback Word Family

Vocabulary lists containing rose

Pink

Brush up on this list of words for different shades of pink. Here are links to our lists in the collection: Blue, Green, Red, Yellow, Orange, Pink, Purple, White, Black and Gray, Brown

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