rosary Meaning, Definition & Usage

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

WordNet

Ro"sa*ry noun
Etymology
LL. rosarium a string of beads, L. rosarium a place planted with roses, rosa a rose: cf. F. rosaire. See Rose.
Wordforms
plural Rosaries
Definitions
  1. A bed of roses, or place where roses grow. "Thick rosaries of scented thorn." Tennyson.
  2. (R.C.Ch.) 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.
    ✍ 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.

Webster 1913