A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1990 (DOST Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1500-1699
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Ros(e)mary, -marie, n. Also: rois- and -marye, -maré. [Late ME (once) and e.m.E. rose mary (Prompt. Parv.), ‘an alteration of rosmarine, L. rōs marīnus, late L. rōsmarīnum.In Eng., also in some other Gmc. languages, the etymological form has been conformed to Ros(e n. and Mary 1. Cf. Ros(e n. 2 b (2).] Rosemary, the aromatic herb.Also attrib. with claith = ? a particular shade of green. 1502 Treasurer's Accounts II 144.
To ane man brocht rosmary fra Bothuile to Strivelin for to set 1568 Skeyne Descr. Pest 19.
The tre and granis of juniper, rosmarie, leauage 1570 Satirical Poems xv 17.
Thow grene roismary, hyde thy heid 1578 Inverness Rec. I 261.
Roismarie c1590 J. Stewart 144 §7.
Behold rosmarie spring and lustie greine, Bebatht vith vapor of the morning gray c1580-90 Rules of Health (Moray Mun.).
Ȝour herbis salbe … pasneipis, sum rosmary & betony 16.. Nat. Lib. MS 22, 2, 11.
Take … ane handfull of rose mary and ane handfull of levender and ane handfull of camavyne 1500-1699 Herbarius Latinus Annot. cxviii (Bot.).
Ros marinus, rosemarie [also] rosmarye 1500-1699 Herbarius Latinus Annot. (Adv.).
Rosmareattrib. 1616 Edinburgh Testaments XLIX 69b.
Tua elnis roismarie claith at iiij lib. x s. the elne
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"Rosmary n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 17 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/rosemary>
