rosemary
/ˈɹoʊzˌmɛəɹi/noun
rosemary is spelled R-O-S-E-M-A-R-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Rosemary, the name). As a noun, rosemary means “A shrub, Salvia rosmarinus (formerly Rosmarinus officinalis), that originates from Europe and Asia Minor and produces a fragrant herb used in cooking…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rosemary is rosemaries.
How many letters and syllables are in rosemary?
| Letters | 8: R-O-S-E-M-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.7 times per million words; the 13,496th 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 rosemary?
Rosemary appears 3.7 times per million words in written English, the 13,496th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Rosemary, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce rosemary?
- UK /ˈɹəʊzməɹi/
- US /ˈɹoʊzˌmɛəɹi/
Rosemary 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: En-us-rosemary.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of rosemary
- rosemaries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rosemary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A shrub, Salvia rosmarinus (formerly Rosmarinus officinalis), that originates from Europe and Asia Minor and produces a fragrant herb used in cooking and perfumes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rosemary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense shrub:
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 rosemary come from?
From Middle English rosmary, rosemarye, alteration (based on rose + Mary) of earlier Middle English rosmarine, rosemaryn, partly from Old French rosmarin, partly directly from Latin rōsmarīnus (“rosemary”), from rōs (“dew, moisture”) + marīnus (“marine, of the sea”). Displaced native Old English boþen.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).