Meanings
- idiomaticIn secret; secretly, privately.First known use 16th c.
‘If you become the purchaser of the East Lynne estate, Mr Carlyle, it must be under the rose.’
1860, Ellen Wood, East Lynne, Penguin 2005, page 103 more examples
We are organising (but this is quite under the rose as yet) a company for the production of furniture and decoration of all kinds, for the sale of which we are going to open an actual shop!
1861, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, quoted by Fiona MacCarthy (2011) in The Last Pre-Raphaelite, Faber, page 130"If ever you smoke, my dear aunt (and I am told that many women take a quiet weed under the rose), be very careful how you choose your cigars."
1862, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret"Strictly between ourselves," he said, in a half-whisper. "You know what things are in a little place like this. It doesn't do to talk about anybody. But I suppose most of your investigations about this gentleman who's missing are under the rose, eh?"
1923, Joseph Smith Fletcher, The Lost Mr. Linthwaite, Grosset & Dunlap, page 196
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinsub rosā
- Englishunder the rose
Calque of Latin sub rosā.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
under the rose. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20rose
“under the rose.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20rose. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “under the rose,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/under%20the%20rose.
Source: under the rose on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.