VocabauraVOCABAURA

rosemary

noun

Simple meaning

A shrub, Salvia rosmarinus, that originates from Europe and Asia Minor and produces a fragrant herb used in cooking and perfumes.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

rohzmuhree

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɹoʊzmɛɹi

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

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.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A shrub, Salvia rosmarinus (formerly Rosmarinus officinalis), that originates from Europe and Asia Minor and produces a fragrant herb used in cooking and perfumes.

Used this way, rosemary is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. This is a food and cooking use: everyday in kitchens and recipes.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Mild
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Where it naturally appears

  • Cooking/food
  • Everyday conversation

Nearby words

  • rosmarinus officinalis , rarer, so it draws attention

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use rosemary

  • “She added fresh rosemary to the roasted potatoes for extra flavor.”noun

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “rosemary”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

fresh rosemarysee rosemarylike rosemarymiss rosemaryrosemary hallrosemary oilrosemary lane

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • apalachicola rosemarynounCompound term

    Small shrub of Apalachicola River area in southeastern United States having highly aromatic pinkish flowers.

  • bog rosemarynounCompound term

    Wiry evergreen shrub having pendent clusters of white or pink flowers.

  • common bog rosemarynounCompound term

    Erect to procumbent evergreen shrub having pendent clusters of white or pink flowers.

  • marsh rosemarynounCompound term

    Any of various plants of the genus Limonium of temperate salt marshes having spikes of white or mauve flowers.

  • wild rosemarynounCompound term

    Bog shrub of northern and central Europe and eastern Siberia to Korea and Japan.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: shrub or Salvia rosmarinus (formerly Rosmarinus officinalis)

rosmarinus officinalisRare

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “rosemary” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.