Rosamund

//ˈrɒzəmənd// name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A female given name from the Germanic languages.

    "Cooks of any seniority were always 'Mrs'. Housemaids and parlourmaids were supposed to have 'suitable' names - e.g. Jane, Mary, Edith, etc. Such names as Violet, Muriel, Rosamund and so on were not considered suitable, and the girl was told firmly, 'Whilst you are in my service you will be called "Mary"'."

Example

More examples

"Cooks of any seniority were always 'Mrs'. Housemaids and parlourmaids were supposed to have 'suitable' names - e.g. Jane, Mary, Edith, etc. Such names as Violet, Muriel, Rosamund and so on were not considered suitable, and the girl was told firmly, 'Whilst you are in my service you will be called "Mary"'."

Etymology

Of Germanic origin (probably Frankish via French Rosemonde or Lombardic via Italian Rosmunda), from Proto-Germanic *hrussą (“horse”) and *mundō (“protection”). By medieval folk etymology interpreted as Latin rosa munda (“pure rose”) or rosa mundī (“rose of the world”) in reference to the Virgin Mary.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.