Etymology: Originally < classical Latin rosa (see below); subsequently reinforced by or reborrowed < Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French rose (French rose ) flower which grows upon a shrub of the genus Rosa (c1140 in Old French; in early use also denoting the plant, now more usually rosier ), delicate pink or light red colour (c1310), peerless or matchless person (c1348 with reference to the Virgin Mary), ornament in the form of a rose (1380; a1377 or earlier in Anglo-Norman in architectural use; 1690 denoting a rose window, or earlier: compare note at sense A. 9g) < classical Latin rosa flower which grows upon a shrub of the genus Rosa, rosebush, oil of roses, in post-classical Latin also denoting a rose window (a1401 in a British source), related to ancient Greek ῥόδον rose, ῥοδέα rosebush, although the details are unclear. Classical Latin rosa may represent an adoption of ancient Greek ῥοδέα via Etruscan (which would explain the retention of intervocalic -s- in Latin), but the sense of the Etruscan words ruze, rusi is unknown. Compare Old Occitan roza, ruesa (14th cent.), Catalan rosa (1249), Spanish rosa (a1250), Portuguese rosa (13th cent.), Italian rosa (a1250).In Old English usually a weak feminine (rōse ); however, a strong masculine by-form (rōs ) is probably to be inferred from the attested Northumbrian genitive singular rosæs. The length of the stem vowel in Old English is uncertain, and it is possible that variants with both long and short vowel existed (although it is often assumed that the vowel was long, and the two occurrences of the word in verse appear to support this assumption). The attested forms in Middle English and early modern English are consistent with the existence of long and short variants in Old English. Old English rōse (with long vowel) would be expected to yield modern English *roose (compare the Middle English and early modern English forms roos, roose). The current modern form and pronunciation may result either from an Old English form with short stem vowel (subsequently lengthened in open syllables; compare the early modern English form roase), or from French influence or reborrowing in the Middle English period, or from a mixture of these. In other Germanic languages the following are either cognate with the Old English word or show parallel (independent) borrowing from Latin: West Frisian roas , Middle Dutch rose , rōse (Dutch roos ), Old Saxon rosa (Middle Low German rōse , rose , royze , roise ), Old High German rōsa (Middle High German rōse , rōs , rous , German Rose ), Old Swedish ros , rosa (Swedish ros ), Old Danish rosæ , rose (Danish rose ); compare also ( < English or Middle Low German) Old Icelandic rós , rósa . It is noteworthy that forms with both long and short stem vowel are attested (although the former predominate; compare also Estonian roos , Finnish ruusu , borrowings from Germanic, both of which reflect a long close ō ); forms with long stem vowel show a borrowing from a post-classical Latin form with characteristic Vulgar Latin lengthening of vowels in open syllables. Certain compounds of the base form of the word correspond to collocations (or compounds) of the Old English noun in the genitive; it is uncertain from the available evidence whether there is continuity between them (examples include rose blossom n. at Compounds 1a(a), rose ooze at Compounds 1a(c), rose leaf n., etc.).