sub-rosa Synonyms & Antonyms

Sub-Rosa in a Sentence

They held the meeting sub rosa.

Word Forms & Grammar

sub rosa (comparative more sub rosa, superlative most sub rosa)

sub rosa (uncountable)

Words That Rhyme With Sub-Rosa

Origin of Sub-Rosa

Origin 1: 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]

Origin 2: The noun is derived from the adverb and adjective.