pe rose

O.E. rose, from L. rosa (cf. It., Sp. rosa, Fr. rose; also source of Du. roos, Ger. Rose, Swed. ros, etc.), probably via It. and Gk. dialects from Gk. rhodon "rose" (Aeolic wrodon), ult. from Pers. *vrda-. But cf. Tucker: "The rose was a special growth of Macedonia & the Thracian region as well as of Persia, & the Lat. & Gk. names prob. came from a Thraco-Phrygian source." Aramaic warda is from O.Pers.; the modern Pers. cognate, via the usual sound changes, is gul, source of Turk. gül "rose." The ultimate source of all this may be PIE *wrdho- "thorn, bramble." Used of a color since 1530. In English civil wars of 15c., the white rose was the badge of the House of York, the red of its rival Lancaster. Rose-water is attested from 1398. Rose-colored "optimistic" is first recorded 1854. In the fig. sense, bed of roses is from 1593. Rosy in the sense of "cheerful" is first recorded 1775; meaning "promising" is from 1887. Rose of Sharon (Song of Sol. ii.1) is attested from 1611 and named for the fertile strip of coastal Palestine. The flower has not been identified; used in U.S. since 1847 of the Syrian hibiscus.