Meanings
rosemary1
plural rosemaries
- uncountableusuallyA shrub, Salvia rosmarinus (formerly Rosmarinus officinalis), that originates from Europe and Asia Minor and produces a fragrant herb used in cooking and perfumes.
Synonyms: rosmarine
Rosemary2
- A female given name from Latin.
Rosemary. A sweet dark name, though finally a shrill trite woman.
1985, Alice Munro, The Progress of Love, Chatto&Windus, published 1987, →ISBN, page 531 more example
"And you - you darling!" - addressing the astonished Rosemary - "will you love your grandmamma? Kiss me, my child." - - - "Oh, you tell fibs!" cried the child. "My name is Rose Marie Romarin - is it not, Grandpa?"
1860, Jedediah Vincent Huntington, Rosemary: or, Life or Death, D.&J. Sadler, Co, published 1860, page 175
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA shrub, Salvia rosmarinus (formerly Rosmarinus officinalis), that originates from Europe and Asia Minor and produces a fragrant herb used in cooking and perfumes.
More synonyms by meaning
nounwidely cultivated for its fragrant grey-green leaves used in cooking and in perfumery
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
rosemary · noun
- Latinrōsmarīnus“rosemary”
- Old Frenchrosmarin
- Middle Englishrosmarine
- Middle Englishrosmary
- Englishrosemary
From Middle English rosmary, rosemarye, alteration (based on rose + Mary) of earlier Middle English rosmarine, rosemaryn, partly from Old French rosmarin, partly directly from Latin rōsmarīnus (“rosemary”), from rōs (“dew, moisture”) + marīnus (“marine, of the sea”). Displaced native Old English boþen.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rosemary · proper noun
A combination of Rose + Mary, referring to the flower as a symbol of Virgin Mary, first recorded in the eighteenth century. It is found in continental Europe as Rosemarie and Rosa Maria. After mid-nineteenth century when flower names became common it may also refer to the herb rosemary, Latin ros marinus "dew of the sea".
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek δενδρολίβανον, ψωρανθεμίς
- δενδρολίβανον (dendrolíbanon)shrub
- ψωρανθεμίς (psōranthemís)shrub
Arabic إِكْلِيل الْغَار, إِكْلِيل الْجَبَل
- إِكْلِيل الْغَار (ʔiklīl al-ḡār)shrub
- إِكْلِيل الْجَبَل (ʔiklīl al-jabal)shrub
- ضِرْم ضَيِّق الْأَوْرَاق (ḍirm ḍayyiq al-ʔawrāq)shrub
- إِكْلِيل اَلْجَبَل (ʔiklīl al-jabal)female given name
Basque erromero
- erromeroshrub
Bulgarian розмари́н
- розмари́н (rozmarín)shrub
Catalan romaní, romer
- romaníshrub
- romershrub
Chinese Cantonese 迷迭香
- 迷迭香 (mai⁴ dit⁶ hoeng¹)shrub
Chinese Mandarin 迷迭香
- 迷迭香 (mídiéxiāng)shrub
Czech rozmarýn, rozmarýna lékařská
- rozmarýnshrub
- rozmarýna lékařskáshrub
Danish rosmarin
- rosmarinshrub
Dutch rozemarijn
- rozemarijnshrub
Esperanto rosmareno
- rosmarenoshrub
Estonian harilik rosmariin, rosmariin
- harilik rosmariinshrub
- rosmariinshrub
Finnish rosmariini
- rosmariinishrub
French romarin, Rose-Marie
- romarinshrub
- Rose-Mariefemale given name
German Rosmarin, Rosemarie
- Rosmarinshrub
- Rosemariefemale given name
Greek δενδρολίβανο
- δενδρολίβανο (dendrolívano)shrub
Hebrew רוזמרין
- רוזמרין (rozmarin)shrub
Hindi गुलमेंहदी
- गुलमेंहदी (gulamẽhadī)shrub
Hungarian rozmaring
- rozmaringshrub
Icelandic rósmarín
- rósmarínshrub
Indonesian rosemary, rosmarin
- rosemaryshrub
- rosmarinshrub
Irish marós
- marósshrub
Italian rosmarino, ramerino
- rosmarinoshrub
- ramerinoshrub
- Mariarosafemale given name
Japanese ローズマリー, 迷迭香
- ローズマリー (rōzumarī)shrub
- 迷迭香 (mannenrō)shrub
Korean 로즈메리
- 로즈메리 (rojeumeri)shrub
Latin rōsmarīnus
- rōsmarīnusshrub
Latvian rozmarīns
- rozmarīnsshrub
Norwegian Bokmål rosmarin
- rosmarinshrub
Persian رزماری, اکلیل کوهی
- رزماری (rozmâri)shrub
- اکلیل کوهی (eklil-e kuhi)shrub
Polish rozmaryn, rozmaryn lekarski
- rozmarynshrub
- rozmaryn lekarskishrub
- Rosemaryfemale given name
Portuguese alecrim
- alecrimshrub
Romanian rozmarin
- rozmarinshrub
Russian розмари́н, Ро́змари
- розмари́н (rozmarín)shrub
- Ро́змари (Rózmari)female given name
Slovak rozmarín
- rozmarínshrub
Spanish romero, rosmarino
- romeroshrub
- rosmarinoshrub
Swedish rosmarin, Rose-Marie
- rosmarinshrub
- Rose-Mariefemale given name
- Ros-Mariefemale given name
Tagalog romero
- romeroshrub
Thai โรสแมรี่
- โรสแมรี่ (rôht maerêe)shrub
Turkish biberiye, baytaran
- biberiyeshrub
- baytaranshrub
Vietnamese hương thảo
- hương thảoshrub
Welsh rhos Mair
- rhos Mairshrub
Yiddish ראָזמאַרין
- ראָזמאַרין (rozmarin)shrub
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
rosemary. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rosemary
“rosemary.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rosemary. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rosemary,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rosemary.
Source: rosemary on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.