sub rosa

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sub ro·sa

(rō′zə)

adv.

In secret; privately or confidentially: held the meeting sub rosa.

[Latin sub rosā, under the rose (from the practice of hanging a rose over a meeting as a symbol of confidentiality) : sub, under + rosā, ablative of rosa, rose.]

sub-ro′sa (səb-rō′zə) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

sub rosa

(ˈrəʊzə)

adv

in secret

[Latin, literally: under the rose; from the rose that, in ancient times, was hung over the council table, as a token of secrecy]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sub ro•sa

(sʌb ˈroʊ zə)
adv.

confidentially; secretly; privately.

[1920–25; < Latin: literally, under the rose, from the ancient use of the rose at meetings as a symbol of the sworn confidence of the participants]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adv.

sub rosa - in secret or covertly; "held a meeting sub rosa to avoid general criticism"

sub rosa

adverb

In a secret way:

clandestinely, covertly, huggermugger, secretly.

Idioms: by stealth, on the sly, under cover.

adjectivesub-rosa

Existing or operating in a way so as to ensure complete concealment and confidentiality:

clandestine, cloak-and-dagger, covert, huggermugger, secret, undercover.

Informal: hush-hush.

Idiom: under wraps.

Translations

sub rosa

[ˈsʌbˈrəʊzə]

A. ADJ → secreto, de confianza

B. ADV → en secreto, en confianza

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

References in periodicals archive ?

There is merit to the suggestion that Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) interviews be sub rosa when unresolved policy questions are injected into the equation.

Cursus honorum

But, for a good few, fearless writing never really stopped completely during those dangerous times, though much of it done sub rosa or in the so-called 'mosquito press,' sometimes called alternative or underground press.

'Press Freedom Under Siege' (Part 1)

Racism that once may have remained politely sub rosa, a kind of muted theme in everyday life, has risen again to the surface, a blatant affront to human dignity and all that is decent.

Pastoral letter on racism lacks sustained urgency

"This slice of personal nostalgia isn't really enough to make this logo meaningful to others, and frankly, I think there might be more to the story," said Michael Ventura, founder and CEO of strategy and design consultancy Sub Rosa. "I'm not a fashion designer, but I have always found Versace's work to be 'sexy ugly'--using garish patterns and loud, borderline obnoxious color combinations to make something of beauty.

Versace's Logo: INSPIRED BY AN ANCIENT RUIN, MEDUSA'S HEAD IS AMONG THE STRANGEST MARKS IN FASHION

Take me, I am the drug of your morning, the bees knees endlessly buzzing--that hum under your tongue, sub rosa, tabula rasa.

Your Rose Meditative

"And if you enter a place na hindi naman kayo kilala [where you are not known], keep a sub rosa style of movement," he said.

Duterte urges military academies to accept more Muslim cadets

That I was unaware of this back then--although Artforum's offices, where I worked at the time, were just across the street from the gallery, and Rene wrote for the magazine and was often around-suggests a kind of sub rosa life the space had, a place in the daily routines of a distinct self-defined culture.

"Love Among the Ruins: 56 Bleecker Gallery and Late 80s New York": HOWL ARTS

This brings us to the so-called "sub rosa sales," a variation of [section] 363 sales.

CREDITOR EQUALITY, SECURED TRANSACTIONS, AND SYSTEMIC RISK: A COMPLEX TRILEMMA

This is an overt use of courts to drag more of the public business back into the shadows and enforce a type of sub rosa censorship.

THE RIGHT TO KNOW MIGHT GET YOU SUED

Gentlemen would regard such confessions as "sub rosa" - under the rose.

Plenty of life left yet in so-called 'dead' language; Latin - a dead language? Not at all, says PETER DUTTON

She has also been active as a director and a composer herself, and she has recorded the premiere of the complete Cage's Songbooks for Sub Rosa on CD, as well as Frederic Acquaviva's Aatie on CD/DVD.