rosary
/ˈɹoʊzəɹi/noun
rosary is spelled R-O-S-A-R-Y: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rosary means “Prayer beads, a string of beads used to keep track of repetitions in prayer, particularly of the Roman Catholic Marian prayer "Hail Mary" (Ave Maria)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rosary is rosaries.
How many letters and syllables are in rosary?
| Letters | 6: R-O-S-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,536th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is rosary?
Rosary appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rosary?
- US /ˈɹoʊzəɹi/
Rosary has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-rosary.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of rosary
- rosaries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rosary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Prayer beads, a string of beads used to keep track of repetitions in prayer, particularly of the Roman Catholic Marian prayer "Hail Mary" (Ave Maria).
- 2
A Roman Catholic devotion involving the repetition of a series of Marian prayers, usually 5, 15, or 20 decades of "Hail Marys", each decade beginning with "Our Father" and ending with "Glory Be to the Father", but sometimes including other Roman Catholic, Anglican, or Lutheran prayers.
- 3
A series or collection of thoughts, literary pieces, etc. intended for similar contemplation.
- 4
A 13th-century coin minted in Europe as a counterfeit debased form of the sterling silver penny of Edward I, at first accepted as a halfpenny and then outlawed.
- 5
A rose garden.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rosary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Catholic prayer beads:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rosaire, chapelet |
| German | Rosenkranz |
| Portuguese | rosário |
| Spanish | rosario |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does rosary come from?
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. Doublet of Rosario and rosarium.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).