sub rosa
English · Français · Deutsch · Thesaurus
AI In plain words
Writing a short explanation…
Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
sub rosa
- /ˌsʌb ˈɹəʊzə/ UK
- /ˌsʌb ˈɹoʊzə/ US
Where it comes from
PIE 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, 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. 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.
The noun is derived from the adverb and adjective.
adverb more sub rosa · most sub rosa
-
Covertly or in secret; confidentially, privately, secretly.
They held the meeting sub rosa.
Similar: behind the scenes, under the rose, under the table · Opposite: above-board, openly, publicly
adjective more sub rosa · most sub rosa
-
Carried out confidentially or secretly.
He began a sub rosa campaign of obstruction, terror and depredation along the Thurn and Taxis mail routes.
Similar: behind the scenes, under the rose, under the table, abstruse, catlike, backroom, backstairs, stealth, clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, concealed, confidential · Opposite: above-board, open, public
- Not formally stated; implicit, tacit, unspoken.
noun subrosa · sub-rosa
- Covert surveillance video used as evidence against applicants for workers' compensation to show they are not in fact (seriously) injured. Questions about Esparza's surveillance practices were exacerbated by an incident in December 2003, in which another subject of a sub-rosa complained of being followed by Esparza wielding a video camera.
Talk about this word "sub rosa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/sub%20rosa. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. sub rosa. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/sub%20rosa "sub rosa." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/sub%20rosa.Cite this
@misc{sub_rosa_2026,
title = {sub rosa},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/sub%20rosa},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
