rose watern.adj.
/ˈrəʊz ˌwɔːtə/, U.S. /ˈroʊz ˌwɔdər/, /ˈroʊz ˌwɑdər/ A. n.
1.
a. Water distilled from roses or scented with essence of roses, used as a perfume or flavouring, or in medicinal preparations, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > smell and odour > fragrance > [noun] > fragrant substance or perfume > specifically
ewrosec1350
stacte1382
oil of rosesa1398
rose watera1398
sandalc1400
musk?a1425
damask water?1520
malabathrum1543
orris1545
civet1553
ambracan1555
rose cake1559
lavender-water1563
oil of spikenard1565
zibet1594
orange-flower water1595
orris powder?1600
spike-oil1611
angel water1634
cypress-powder1634
angelica1653
jasmine1670
jessamy1671
rosat1674
frangipane1676
marechale1676
orangery1676
tuberose1682
jasmine-water1750
otto1759
rose geranium1773
millefleurs1775
new-mown hay1789
attar1798
eau-de-Cologne1802
Cologne1814
dedes1817
eau de Portugal1825
verbena1837
rondeletia1838
bay-rum1840
Florida water1840
citronelle1841
patchouli1843
citronella1849
gardenia1851
sandalwood oil1851
Ess Bouquet1855
marmala water1857
mignonette1858
spikenard oil1861
sandalwood1865
serpolet1866
ylang-ylang1876
flower-water1886
lily1890
lilac1895
stephanotis1895
tea rose1897
chypre1898
Peau d'Espagne1898
violette de Parme1904
poppy1905
Parma violet1907
wallflower1907
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 213v Delicate men temper þe wyne wiþ rose water.
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 136 (MED) To plastre with þe same þing it is profitable, or with..the softnesse of apples soden in rose water.
c1484 (a1475) J. de Caritate tr. Secreta Secret. (Takamiya) (1977) 171 (MED) Take and putte þe quantyte of an egge of datys with-owte stonys..in vj powund of rose watyre.
a1525 Cov. Leet-bk. 292 He payde for a glasse of Rose water that my lord Ryvers had ij s.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Cvv Their Priestes..washe the Image of the deuyll with rose water.
1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. C4 Their nere bitten beardes must..be dewd euerie daie with rose water.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta vi. 95 Orenges sliced and sopped in Rose-water and Sugar, are very good to coole..the stomacke.
1658 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 2nd Pt. 588 The Rose-water is not the lesse sweet, because one writes worm-wood water on the glasse.
1712 J. Browne tr. P. Pomet et al. Compl. Hist. Druggs I. 111 It is of these Roses we make the best Rose-Water.
1782 F. Burney Cecilia III. vi. xi. 354 After dinner you shall bathe them [sc. your eyes] in rose water.
1826 Spirit of Times 25 Mar. 376/1 A rosarium is both agreeable and profitable, affording rose-buds for the pot-pourri, and leaves for scent-bags and rose-water.
1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. xii. 112 He..could scent his pocket-handkerchief with rose-water.
1889 E. Lynn Linton Thro' Long Night I. i. ii. 20 Sly may..splash his spatulous fingers in rose-water.
1952 Good Housek. (U.S. ed.) Dec. 142/2 ‘Oh’, she caroled in delight, holding it [sc. a bottle of French perfume] to her nose. ‘I have been so sick of the rose water.’
1960 N. Coward Diary 26 Apr. (2000) 435 We sat on cushions, washed our hands in rose-water, and ate, with our fingers, a dish called pastilia.
2000 C. Hanger World Food: Morocco 41 Oranges are frequently served, also, flavoured with rosewater or dressed with dates or walnuts.
b. As a count noun. Now rare.In early use frequently in plural with singular agreement.
ΚΠ
1533 tr. Erasmus Enchiridion Militis Christiani i. sig. A.iii We be crowned with roses & fresshe floures. Bathed in damaske and rose waters.
1582 N. Lichefield tr. F. L. de Castanheda 1st Bk. Hist. Discouerie E. Indias i. xiii. 33 So came they thether,..finding there..coralls, Rose waters, and all kinde of Conserues.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) iii. v. sig. Ll6 Haue you euer seene a pure Rosewater kept in a christal glas; how fine it lokes, how sweet it smels?
1625 in S. Purchas Pilgrimes I. iv. xvi. 556 Fourteene Camels of distilled Sweet Waters, seuen of Rose Waters.
1678 tr. M. Charas Royal Pharmacopœa i. iii. 16 A Rose-water of a fair colour, and as much or more Vermillion then the Roses from whence they were drawn.
1737 H. Bracken Midwife's Compan. 254 Wash the Child's Mouth with Barley and Rose-waters mixed with a little Juice of Lemon and Honey of Roses.
?1773 Mrs. Pennington Royal Cook 74 Beat very fine with rose-waters a pound of butter melted with a pint of cream.
1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 70 A fragrant rose water is distilled from the root [of yellow rose-wort].
1873 Canad. Pharm. Jrnl. & Trans. 6 50 The ancient Greeks and Romans, the Egyptians and the Hindoos, were acquainted with rose-waters.
1920 C. Caspari Treat. on Pharmacy (ed. 6) 252 The stronger..rose-waters are obtained..by distilling the fresh flowers..of the hundred-leaved or pale rose.
2. figurative and in figurative contexts. Something pleasant, refined, gentle, conciliatory, or sentimental; pleasantness, gentleness, sentimentality. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > quality of being pleasant or pleasurable > [noun]
lustfulnessa900
sweetnessc900
sootnessc1000
unloathfulnessc1350
sugarc1374
pleasancec1395
agreeability?c1400
dulcourc1429
pleasure1497
pleasantnessa1500
douceness1518
dulceness?1526
dulcetness1528
pleasancy1545
ungrieffulness1556
acceptableness1565
rose water1584
pleasingnessa1586
amenity?1591
pleasing1591
acceptance1594
suavity1594
prettiness1604
jucundity1620
dulcity1623
pleasurableness1626
agreeablenessa1631
placency1639
acceptability1647
dulce1654
amicableness1667
pleasurability1793
niceness1809
dulciness1828
enjoyableness1868
Gemütlichkeit1892
sweetness and light1927
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [noun] > gentleness
facility?a1425
gentleness1583
rose water1584
1584 J. Lyly Sapho & Phao iv. iv. sig. F2 You weepe rose water, when you aske, and spitte vineger, when you haue obteined.
1590 R. Greene Neuer too Late i. 10 Wetting Cupids winges with rosewater, and tricking vp his quiuer with sweete perfumes.
1632 P. Hausted Rivall Friends i. viii Rellish In the rose-water of a Knighthood, strew'd O're with the Sugar of a yearely rent Of some nine hundred.
1708 P. A. Motteux Wks. F. Rabelais (1737) iv. xxiv. 103 As for the Chapel..it shall be a Chapel of Rose-water.
1764 Oxf. Sausage 176 With earthly Rose-water he did delight ye, But now he deals in heavenly Aqua-vitae.
1819 Ld. Byron Let. 3 Oct. (1976) VI. 226 On either side harm must be done before good can accrue—revolutions are not to be made with rose water.
1830 Morning Chron. 4 Aug. But for the 1500 killed and wounded..this would almost have been what Mirabeau said was impossible: a revolution of rose-water.
1890 Blackwood's Mag. 147 420/2 It is only sentimentalists and spurters of rose-water that object to it.
1905 J. H. Whitson Justin Wingate ii. iv. 171 That paper, which poured vitriol on you to-day, will shower you with rosewater and honey to-morrow, if what you do pleases it.
B. adj.
In form rose-water, rosewater. Pleasant, gentle, conciliatory; refined. Now rare.In quot. 1598 of language: fair, flattering.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > [adjective] > of words or manners
fairOE
honeyed1435
glozed1509
fair-tongued1541
fine1568
smoothed1568
smoothinga1592
sugary1591
slicked1594
rose water1598
rose-watered1599
candied1604
soft1609
courtlya1616
smooth-faced1626
oileda1640
blandished1671
sugar1687
fair-spoken1704
smooth-tongued1761
silky1778
pill-gilded1822
blarneyfied1830
greasy1848
blarneyed1861
soothering1866
soothing-syrupy1902
the world > action or operation > manner of action > lack of violence, severity, or intensity > [adjective] > not harsh or gentle
meekc1230
nesha1250
tender1340
softa1398
sober1455
gentle1508
silken1601
milken1648
rose water1837
paddy1962
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > kindness > gentleness or mildness > [adjective]
stillc825
tamec888
nesheOE
mildeOE
softOE
lithea1000
daftc1000
methefulOE
sefteOE
meekc1175
benign1377
pleasablea1382
mytha1400
tendera1400
unfelona1400
mansuetea1425
meeta1425
gentlec1450
moy1487
placablea1522
facile1539
effeminate1594
silver1596
mildya1603
unmalicious1605
uncruel1611
maliceless1614
tender-hefteda1616
unpersecutive1664
baby-milda1845
rose water1855
turtlish1855
unvindictive1857
soft-boiled1859
tenderful1901
soft-lining1967
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > [adjective] > specifically of persons
refined1598
polite1601
inlanda1616
researched1636
spirituel1673
elegant1691
kid-gloved1848
kid glove1856
fine-drawn1876
rose water1883
sophisticated1895
subtle1904
the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > sensuous pleasure > physical comfort > [adjective] > comfortable (of conditions or way of life)
easyc1380
easefulc1425
commodiousa1528
commoditious1574
carpeta1639
large1722
snug1766
comfortable1769
liveable1794
comfy1829
featherbed-campaigner1888
rose water1889
1598 E. Guilpin Skialetheia sig. C4 Nothing but cossenage doth the world possesse... Come to the Court, and Balthazer affords Fountaines of holy and rose-water words.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. vi. i. 368 It is not a Revolt, it is a Revolution; and truly no rose-water one.
1855 E. C. Gaskell North & South I. xv. 190 ‘They are that,’ replied Mr. Thornton. ‘Rose-water surgery won't do for them.’
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 738 Because you're not [rich], she will strike for one of them rose-water snobs on Algonquin Avenue.
1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 21 I was to be cut adrift.., and sent to rough it among strangers in a new and anything but a rose-water life.
1908 Expositor Dec. 170/2 I let those who like that sort of a rosewater lecture pay for it.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, as rose-water bottle, rose-water bowl, rose-water cake, rose-water dish, rose-water ewer, etc.
ΚΠ
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 248 Also Rose-Water Bottles, the best Water whereof is Distilled here.
1790 New Ann. Reg. 1789 Manners of Nations 49/2 About it [sc. the altar] were several silver flower pots and rose-water bottles.
1869 Corporation & College Plate 6 The fashion of ewers and rose-water dishes was introduced from the East to Europe.
1869 Corporation & College Plate Rose-water Ewer.
1886 Cakes & other Good Things (ed. 2) 3 Rose-water Cake.
1898 W. Jeanes & W. J. Robinson Gunter's Mod. Confect. (ed. 13) 263 Rosewater Ice.
1956 G. Taylor Silver v. 97 A rose-water dish of 1672 belonging to St John's College, Oxford.
1960 H. Hayward Connoisseur's Handbk. Antique Collecting 243/2 Rose-water ewer and dish or basin, used for finger-washing at table.
2008 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 13 Feb. f3 I inhaled the fragrance from the open rose water bottle.
C2. † rosewater pear n. Obsolete a kind of pear with juice that tastes of rose water; a rose pear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > fruit and vegetables > fruit or a fruit > pear > [noun] > other types of pear
calewey1377
choke-pear1530
muscadel1555
lording1573
bon-chrétienc1575
Burgundian pear1578
king pear1585
amiot1600
bergamot1600
butter pear1600
dew-pear1600
greening1600
bottle pear1601
gourd-pear1601
critling1611
pearc1612
nutmeg1629
rosewater pear1629
amber pear1638
Christian1651
chesil1664
diego1664
frith-pear1664
primate1664
saffron pear1664
Windsor pear1664
nonsuch1674
muscat1675
burnt-cat1676
ambrette1686
sanguinole1693
satin1693
St. Germain pear1693
amadot1706
burree1719
Doyenne1731
beurré1736
colmar1736
chaumontel1755
Marie Louise1817
seckel1817
vergaloo1828
Passe Colmar1837
glou-morceau1859
London sugar1860
Kieffer pear1880
sand pear1880
sandy pear1884
nashi1892
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > early-ripening varieties
pere-jonettec1390
rosewater pear1629
Catherine peara1642
Robine1658
jargonelle1693
jenneting pear1694
summer rose1860
1629 J. Parkinson Paradisi in Sole iii. xxi. 592 The Rosewater peare is a goodly faire peare, and of a delicate taste.
1755 T. Hitt Treat. Fruit-trees 328 Of the rose pears there are two sorts both extremely good; the one is called the curled rose pear, or the rose water pear, for its juice (of which it is very full) tastes like it.
1819 Time's Telescope: Guide to Almanack 188 The Rose-water pear has a rough skin, and is of a brown colour; the juice is very sweet.
1874 P. Lacroix Manners Custom & Dress 116 The caillou rosat, our rosewater pear.
rose-water pipe n. a hookah in which the smoke passes through rose water before reaching the mouth.
ΚΠ
1835 N. P. Willis Pencillings II. xxi. 234 A string of beads in one hand, and a splendid narghilé, or rose-water pipe, in the other.
1894 A. Azhderian Under Oriental Skies viii. 152 After games and conversation, the happy company indulge in cigarettes, coffee, sweetmeats and narghile, or the flexible rosewater pipe, much similar to the hookah of Hindoostan.
1939 F. Yeats-Brown European Jungle ix. 256 The buyers are unhurried and unworried, and the sellers puff their rose-water pipes, or sip their coffee imperturbably.
1990 A. Frater Chasing Monsoon v. 165 Maids carry the prince's fans and rose water pipe.
rose-water still n. a still for making rose water.
ΚΠ
1663 R. Boyle Some Considerations Usefulnesse Exper. Nat. Philos. ii. ii. 79 Made by a bare distillation in a common rose-water still.
?1742 H. Glasse Compl. Confectioner 95 If you would have it [sc. orange water] very strong distil it in an ordinary rose-water still.
1892 A. M. Earle China Collecting in Amer. xviii. 378 The old rose-water still that stood, when unused, a cumbrous and mysterious machine under the dusty eaves of the garret.
1917 F. A. Steel Mistress of Men v. 58 The great rose-water stills were set in the shade of tall jamun trees.
1994 M. Rogers in C. Heywood & C. Imber Stud. Ottoman Hist. 274 A series of metal vessels, including two rose-water stills.
Derivatives
ˈrose-watered adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > [adjective] > of words or manners
fairOE
honeyed1435
glozed1509
fair-tongued1541
fine1568
smoothed1568
smoothinga1592
sugary1591
slicked1594
rose water1598
rose-watered1599
candied1604
soft1609
courtlya1616
smooth-faced1626
oileda1640
blandished1671
sugar1687
fair-spoken1704
smooth-tongued1761
silky1778
pill-gilded1822
blarneyfied1830
greasy1848
blarneyed1861
soothering1866
soothing-syrupy1902
1599 J. Weever Epigrammes sig. A5v Smelling rose-waterd odoriferous Poses, Pleasing my mistris with a Mermaides song.
1600 S. Rowlands Letting of Humors Blood Satyre iv. sig. D8 Mellfluuius, sweete Rose-watred elloquence.
1722 R. Bradley Gen. Treat. Husbandry II. 199 La Poire rose, i.e. the Rose Pear,..has a Rose-water'd Juice, and is very good.
1876 R. F. Burton in I. Burton Life R. F. Burton (1893) II. 72 My language is not rose-watered.
1905 H. F. Hall Napoleon's Notes on Eng. Hist. iv. 326 After a twelve years' course of Cromwell and civil anarchy, the country wanted a few doses of rose- watered imagination very badly.
2004 K. S. Rothwell Shakespeare on Screen (ed. 2) vi. 125 The sensuous symbols and images from the Induction, the scented bedchamber and the rose-watered bath, for example, are linked with Petruchio.
ˈrose-watery adj.
ΚΠ
1869 Ladies' Repository May 396/2 Kirke White's radiant and rose-watery career infected the colleges of Christendom.
1902 G. B. Shaw Let. 20 June (1972) II. 277 The comparatively rose-watery part of it [sc. a situation in Mrs. Warren's Profession].
2000 Independent (Nexis) 23 Nov. 5 There was a lovely, vaguely rose-watery smell of profit about him.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.a1398