A rosary is a string of beads that members of certain religions, especially Catholics, use for counting prayers. A series of prayers counted in this way is also called a rosary.
Estrada took a rosary from his tunic and ran the beads through the fingers of onehand.
He's saying three rosaries a day.
rosary in British English
(ˈrəʊzərɪ)
nounWord forms: plural-saries
1. Roman Catholic Church
a.
a series of prayers counted on a string of beads, usually consisting of five or 15 decades of Aves, each decade beginning with a Paternoster and ending with a Gloria
b.
a string of 55 or 165 beads used to count these prayers as they are recited
2.
(in other religions) a similar string of beads used in praying
3.
a bed or garden of roses
4. an archaic word for garland (sense 1)
Word origin
C14: from Latin rosārium rose garden, from rosārius of roses, from rosarose1
rosary in American English
(ˈroʊzəri)
nounWord forms: pluralˈrosaries
1. Roman CatholicChurch
a.
a string of five (sometimes fifteen) sets of beads (one large bead and ten small beads in each set), used to count prayers as they are recited: at each largebead an Our Father is said; at each small one, a Hail Mary; at the end of each set, the lesser doxology
b.
this group of prayers
2.
any string of beads used in praying
Word origin
ME rosarie < L rosarium, rose garden (in ML, rosary, garland of roses) < neut. of rosarius, of roses < rosa, rose1
Examples of 'rosary' in a sentence
rosary
"And she'd walked off, her rosary beads clattering together all the way down the corridor.
Cassidy, Anne IN REAL LIFE (2001)
Llewelyn could count his enemies like rosary beads: Gwenwynwyn, Maelgwn, Rhys Gryg, Thomas Corbet.
Penman, Sharon HERE BE DRAGONS (2001)
She prayed for Mam after Communion and at Benediction, saying for her Miss Dennison's pink rosary.
Haines, Pamela THE GOLDEN LION (2001)
It's become a ritual with her, like saying the rosary for Catholics, by rote, without thinking; a talisman for good luck.