Other forms: rosaries
A rosary is a string of beads used for counting prayers. Say the rosary, tell the rosary, a wooden rosary.
The beads keep the count so the mind is free, which is the whole practical point of them. The word also names the sequence of prayers itself, so you can say a rosary without holding one.
1nounrosaryA string of beads used for counting prayers.
“She kept a rosary in her coat pocket for forty years.”
rosary is a string of beads.
Latin rosarium means a rose garden or a garland of roses, taken as a figure for a collection of prayers.
Latin
rosārium
Middle English
rosarie
English, today
rosary
From Middle English rosarie, from Latin rosārium, here in its sense as a garland of roses. The coin usage referred to the laurel wreath appearing on the obverse bust, as opposed to the bare head on the pollard. a doublet of Rosario and rosarium.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA