Ro"sa*ry (?), n.; pl. Rosaries (#). [LL. rosarium a string of beads, L. rosarium a place planted with roses, rosa a rose: cf. F. rosaire. See Rose.]
1.
A bed of roses, or place where roses grow.
"Thick
rosaries of scented thorn."
Tennyson.
2. R.C.Ch.
A series of prayers (see Note below) arranged to be recited in order, on beads; also, a string of beads by which the prayers are counted.
His idolized book, and the whole rosary of his prayers.
Milton.
A rosary consists of fifteen decades. Each decade contains ten Ave Marias marked by small beads, preceded by a Paternoster, marked by a larger bead, and concluded by a Gloria Patri. Five decades make a chaplet, a third part of the rosary.
Bp. Fitzpatrick.
3.
A chapelet; a garland; a series or collection, as of beautiful thoughts or of literary selections.
Every day propound to yourself a rosary or chaplet of good works to present to God at night.
Jer. Taylor.
4.
A coin bearing the figure of a rose, fraudulently circulated in Ireland in the 13th century for a penny.
Rosary shell Zool., any marine gastropod shell of the genus Monodonta. They are top-shaped, bright-colored and pearly.
© Webster 1913.