sub rosa
English
editEtymology
editPIE word |
---|
*upó |
The adverb and adjective are an unadapted borrowing from Late Latin sub rosā (literally “under the rose”), from Latin sub (“beneath, under”) + rosa (“rose”) (possibly from Ancient Greek ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”), ultimately from Proto-Iranian *wardah (“flower; rose”) and Proto-Indo-European *Hwerdʰ-, possibly a metathesis of *h₁lewdʰ- (“to grow; to rise”)). The reason for the reference to a rose is uncertain,[1] though it has been suggested that it derives from the Ancient Greek myth that Aphrodite (the goddess of love) gave a rose to her son Eros (the god of love and sex), who in turn gave it to Harpocrates (the god of silence, confidentiality, and secrets) to ensure that Aphrodite’s sexual indiscretions were not revealed.[2] Roses thus became a symbol of secrecy—they were, for example, used at meetings to pledge the participants not to disclose what had been discussed. Compare under the rose which is attested earlier.[3][4]
The noun is derived from the adverb and adjective.
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌsʌb ˈɹəʊzə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌsʌb ˈɹoʊzə/
Audio (General American): (file)
Adverb
editsub rosa (comparative more sub rosa, superlative most sub rosa)
- Covertly or in secret; confidentially, privately, secretly. [from 17th c.]
- Synonyms: behind the scenes, under the rose, under the table
- Antonyms: above-board, openly, publicly
- They held the meeting sub rosa.
- 1833 July 1, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Mandeville’s Fable of the Bees—Bestial Theory—Character of Bertram—Beaumont and Fletcher’s Dramas—Æschylus, Sophocles, Euripides—Milton”, in H[enry] N[elson] C[oleridge], editor, Specimens of the Table Talk of the Late Samuel Taylor Coleridge. […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], published 1835, →OCLC, pages 203–204:
- By the by, I wonder some of you lawyers (sub rosa, of course) have not quoted the pithy lines in Mandeville […]
- 1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter IX, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC, part II, page 188:
- I run my boat into New York, buy from Yankee firms, sub rosa, of course, and away I go.
Translations
editAdjective
editsub rosa (comparative more sub rosa, superlative most sub rosa)
- Carried out confidentially or secretly.
- Synonyms: behind the scenes, under the rose, under the table; see also Thesaurus:covert
- Antonyms: above-board, open, public
- 1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 6, in The Crying of Lot 49, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, page 160:
- He began a sub rosa campaign of obstruction, terror and depredation along the Thurn and Taxis mail routes.
- Not formally stated; implicit, tacit, unspoken.
Translations
edit
|
Noun
editsub rosa (uncountable)
- (US, law, slang) Covert surveillance video used as evidence against applicants for workers' compensation to show they are not in fact (seriously) injured.
Alternative forms
editTranslations
editReferences
edit- ^ “sub rosa, adv. and adj.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “sub rosa, adj. and adv.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ “sub rosa, adv.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- ^ “under the rose, phrase” under “rose, n.1 and adj.1”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2024.
- ^ “under the rose”, in Collins English Dictionary.
Further reading
edit- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *upó
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁lewdʰ-
- English terms borrowed from Late Latin
- English unadapted borrowings from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English terms derived from Proto-Iranian
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adverbs
- English multiword terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- American English
- en:Law
- English slang