sub rosa

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin sub rosā (“under the rose”, post-Classical). Compare earlier under the rose.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌsʌb.ˈɹəʊ.zə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adverb

sub rosa

1. In secret or covertly; privately, confidentially. [from 17th c.]

   They held the meeting sub rosa.

   • 1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC, part II, page 188:

     I run my boat into New York, buy from Yankee firms, sub rosa, of course, and away I go.

Adjective

sub rosa

1. Carried out secretly or confidentially.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:covert

   • 1966, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 6, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York: Bantam Books, published 1976, →ISBN, page 120:

     He began a sub rosa campaign of obstruction, terror and depredation along the Thurn and Taxis mail routes.

Noun

sub rosa (uncountable)

1. (slang, in workers’ compensation cases) Covert surveillance video used to catch workers’ compensation applicants and show that they are in fact not injured.

Alternative forms

• subrosa (noun)

Synonyms

• behind the scenes
• under the rose
• under the table