ROSARY

rosary, prayer beads

(noun) a string of beads used in counting prayers (especially by Catholics)

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

rosary (plural rosaries)

Prayer beads, a string of beads used to keep track of repetitions in prayer, particularly in the Roman Catholic Marian prayer "Hail Mary" (Ave Maria)

A Roman Catholic devotion involving the repetition of a series of Marian prayers, usually 5, 15, or 20 decades of "Hail Marys", each decade beginning with "Our Father" and ending with "Glory Be to the Father", but sometimes including other Roman Catholic, Anglican, or Lutheran prayers.

(by extension) A series or collection of thoughts, literary pieces, etc. intended for similar contemplation.

(historical numismatics) A 13th-century coin minted in Europe as a counterfeit debased form of the sterling silver penny of Edward I, at first accepted as a halfpenny and then outlawed.

A rose garden.

Anagrams

• Raysor

Source: Wiktionary

Ro"sa*ry, n.; pl. Rosaries. Etym: [LL. rosarium a string of beads, L. rosarium a place planted with roses, rosa a rose: cf. F. rosaire. See Rose.]

1. A bed of roses, or place where roses grow. "Thick rosaries of scented thorn." Tennyson.

2. (R.C.Ch.)

Definition: A series of prayers (see Note below) arranged to be recited in order, on beads; also, a string of beads by which the prayers are counted. His idolized book, and the whole rosary of his prayers. Milton.

Note: A rosary consists of fifteen decades. Each decade contains ten Ave Marias marked by small beads, preceded by a Paternoster, marked by a larger bead, and concluded by a Gloria Patri. Five decades make a chaplet, a third part of the rosary. Bp. Fitzpatrick.

3. A chapelet; a garland; a series or collection, as of beautiful thoughts or of literary selections. Every day propound to yourself a rosary or chaplet of good works to present to God at night. Jer. Taylor.

4. A coin bearing the figure of a rose, fraudulently circulated in Ireland in the 13th century for a penny. Rosary shell (Zoöl.), any marine gastropod shell of the genus Monodonta. They are top-shaped, bright-colored and pearly.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition