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- Dictionarysub rosa/ˌsʌb ˈrəʊzə/
adjective
- 1. happening or done in secret: "sub rosa inspections"
adverb
- 1. in secret: "the committee operates sub rosa"
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Sub rosa literally means "under the rose" in New Latin. Since ancient times, the rose has often been associated with secrecy. In ancient mythology, Cupid gave a rose to Harpocrates, the god of silence, to keep him from telling about the indiscretions of Venus.
The Latin phrase sub rosa (Neo-Latin for "under the rose"), denotes secrecy or confidentiality and is used in English to denote secrecy or confidentiality, similar to the Chatham House Rule. The rose has a long, ancient history as a symbol of secrecy.
Sub rosa definition: confidentially; secretly; privately.. See examples of SUB ROSA used in a sentence.
secretly; privately; confidentially. Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. Word origin. L, lit., under the rose, an ancient symbol of secrecy. sub rosa in American English. (sʌb ˈrouzə) adverb. confidentially; secretly; privately.
Use the Latin phrase sub rosa to describe something that's done in secret. Your espionage club might hold all its meetings sub rosa, in your tree house in the middle of the night.
Aug 5, 2024 · 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. Translations.
Define sub-rosa. sub-rosa synonyms, sub-rosa pronunciation, sub-rosa translation, English dictionary definition of sub-rosa. adv. In secret; privately or confidentially: held the meeting sub rosa. sub-ro′sa adj. American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition....
designed and carried out secretly or confidentially. “a sub-rosa report”. synonyms: behind-the-scenes, under-the-table. covert. secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed.
Factsheet. What does the word sub rosa mean? There are two meanings listed in OED's entry for the word sub rosa. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. See meaning & use. How common is the word sub rosa? About 0.07 occurrences per million words in modern written English. See frequency.
First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin sub rosā literally, “under the rose,” from the ancient use of the rose at meetings as a symbol of the sworn confidence of the participants, based on the Greek myth that Aphrodite gave a rose to her son Eros, who then gave the rose to Harpocrates, the god of silence and secrets, to ensure that ...
