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under the rose. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
under the rose, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
under the rose in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
under the rose you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
Calque of Latin sub rosā.
Pronunciation
Adverb
under the rose
- (idiomatic) In secret; secretly, privately.
1860, Ellen Wood, East Lynne, Penguin 2005, page 10:‘If you become the purchaser of the East Lynne estate, Mr Carlyle, it must be under the rose.’
- 1861, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, quoted by Fiona MacCarthy (2011) in The Last Pre-Raphaelite, Faber, →ISBN, page 130:
- 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!