Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An ornament or badge made of ribbon or silk that is pleated or gathered to resemble a rose and is given as an award, used to decorate clothing, or worn in the buttonhole of civilian dress to indicate the possession of certain medals or honors.
  • noun A roselike marking or formation, such as one of the clusters of spots on a leopard's fur.
  • noun Architecture A painted, carved, or sculptured ornament having a circular arrangement of parts radiating out from the center and suggesting the petals of a rose.
  • noun Botany A circular cluster of leaves that radiate from a center at or close to the ground, as in the dandelion.
  • noun An ornamental circular band surrounding the central hole of an acoustic guitar.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In electricity: A cluster of glow-lamps or of sockets arranged for the mounting of such lamps.
  • noun An electrical fixture used when a branch is to be taken from the main wires. It consists, usually, of a porcelain base, which is fastened to a ceiling or other support, and a porcelain cover through a hole in which the branch wires run. Removing the cover disconnects the branch wires from the mains.
  • noun Any circular ornament having many small parts in concentric circles, or regularly arranged around the center.
  • noun Specifically— In architecture, an ornament of frequent use in decoration in all styles. In Roman architecture rosettes decorate coffers in ceilings and soffits of cornices, and appear as a central ornament of the abacus of the Corinthian order. In medieval architecture rosettes are abundant, and consist usually of a knot of foliage inscribed in a circle, trefoil, or quatrefoil. See also cut under patera.
  • noun A knot of ribbon or a bunch of colored worsted used as an ornament of costume, especially one of the two bunches of ribbons attached to the loops by which an officer's gorget was suspended on his chest.
  • noun Any object or arrangement resembling in form a full-blown rose.
  • noun Same as roset.
  • noun In zoology and anatomy, a natural formation of parts resembling a rose. See rose, 9.
  • noun A curve whose polar equation is r = a + sin mθ, which presents a great variety of forms symmetrical about a center.
  • noun Nautical, a form of knot.
  • noun In metallurgy, a disk or plate formed by throwing water on melted metal. See rosette-copper, and compare quenching, 2.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An imitation of a rose by means of ribbon or other material, -- used as an ornament or a badge.
  • noun (Arch.) An ornament in the form of a rose or roundel, -much used in decoration.
  • noun A red color. See Roset.
  • noun A rose burner. See under Rose.
  • noun Any structure having a flowerlike form; especially, the group of five broad ambulacra on the upper side of the spatangoid and clypeastroid sea urchins. See Illust. of Spicule, and Sand dollar, under Sand.
  • noun A flowerlike color marking.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An imitation of a rose by means of ribbon or other material, used especially as an ornament or a badge.
  • noun architecture An ornament in the form of a rose or roundel, much used in decoration.
  • noun A red color.
  • noun A rose burner.
  • noun botany One or more whorls of leaves, clustered tightly at the base of a plant.
  • noun botany A plant growth form in which the plant grows outward in all directions for a short distance, producing a small round shape.
  • noun zoology Any structure having a flowerlike form; especially, the group of five broad ambulacra on the upper side of the spatangoid and clypeastroid sea urchins.
  • noun zoology A flowerlike color marking, as on the leopard.
  • noun A floral pattern in latte art.
  • noun medicine A clustered formation of tumor cells.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a cluster of leaves growing in crowded circles from a common center or crown (usually at or close to the ground)
  • noun circular window filled with tracery
  • noun an ornament or pattern resembling a rose that is worn as a badge of office or as recognition of having won an honor
  • noun rhizoctinia disease of potatoes

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, diminutive of rose, rose; see rose.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French rosette.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word rosette.

Examples

  • -- It is worked at the same time both round the bosom and sleeves. 1st round: * 1 double in the centre purl of the 1st scallop of the rosette, which we will call the _first rosette_; 5 chain,

    Beeton's Book of Needlework 1850

  • The rosette is Egyptian; and the honeysuckle, which Mr. Petrie has identified as a florid variety of the lotus pattern, (44) is also distinctly Egyptian.

    Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers 1891

  • The spiral in combination with the rosette is first found, as a decorative design, on a ceiling in one of the tombs at Beni-Hasan, as in the following illustration; and in another

    Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers 1891

  • In the second example the rosette is substituted for the inner curves of the spiral, and the intermediate space is filled in with the true lotus motive.

    Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers 1891

  • The name-tag rosette was worn on either side of the costume, depending on whether the owner was right- or left-handed.

    The Bunny Is Back Thomas Vinciguerra 2011

  • The show will spotlight the classic Bunny costume, one of the most recognizable outfits of all time, complete with bursting cleavage, name-tag rosette and a tail that Norman Mailer once called "the puff of chastity."

    The Bunny Is Back Thomas Vinciguerra 2011

  • Work a wheel in the centre of the rosette, which is ornamented with a circle of chain stitch, as can be seen in illustration; take up one thread of the wheel with every other chain stitch.

    Beeton's Book of Needlework 1850

  • Draw up very tightly the cotton over which you work, so that the circles form a rosette, which is closed by sewing together the two corresponding purl of the first and last circle.

    Beeton's Book of Needlework 1850

  • • A rosette, which is thrown over the edge of the boat.

    Nunatsiaq News - Online 2010

  • The cells he identified ― called rosette-stage NSCs (R-NSCs) ― are different from other neural stem cells in the way they look, express genes, and in their special needs for growth.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • On a guitar, the sometimes quite ornate inlaid decoration around the sound hole. The rosette actually strengthens the sound hole, which is a mixture of end-grain and edge-grain and is considered a weak spot on the soundboard.

    November 15, 2007

  • I always wondered about that! Thanks, skipvia.

    November 15, 2007

  • Ohhhh. Cool! I didn't know that either.

    November 15, 2007

  • A PA Dutch hex sign design, the most basic motif. The rosette symbolize luck; a scalloped border symbolizes a trouble-free life. The rosette's color (red) signifies strength; the green of the border signifies life. This design is considered a potent safeguard against harm and portends good luck in life.

    November 22, 2007