The name rose can be traced back, via Latin rosa, only to Greek rhodon [ῥόδον] (cf. the name of the common ornamental rhododendron [ῥοδοδένδρον] rose tree), but not further; the plant must have been known in bronze-age Greece as it appears in the Odysseia [Ὀδυσσεῖα] (see poppy on the Homeric epics). We do not know, however, which rose variety inspired the poet to his famous comparison of the goddess of dawn and rose flowers: rhododaktylos Eos [ῥοδοδάκτυλος Ἠῶς] rosy-fingered Eos.
Damask Rose York and Lancaster with two flower colours
The source of Greek rhodon is probably a tongue of Western Asia now lost. There are, however, related words that are no Greek loans, but derived from the unknown predecessor language by an independent route: Armenian vart rose [վարդ], Georgian vardi [ვარდი], Arabic ward [ورد] and Hebrew vered [ורד]. From Arabic, the word spread to a number of languages in Islâmic countries of Africa and Asia. Compare also Slovenian vrtnica rose (besides ro) and the female name Warda popular in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Latin name rosa, itself derived from Greek, is essentially the source of almost all names of rose in modern European tongues, mostly with at most only slight variation: The name rose is not only valid in English, but also in German, Danish and French; other Germanic names are Icelandic rós, Swedish ros and Dutch roos. The Romance languages Italian, Spanish and Portuguese have another common name, rosa. In Baltic and Slavonic tongues, the S sound got voiced throughout, and sometimes also palatalized: Latvian rozes, Lithuanian roės, Czech růe, Polish róża and Russian roza [роза]. Basque has an initial vowel, arrosa. Examples of loans to non-European tongues are Kannada roja [ರೋಜಾ] and Japanese rozu [ローズ].
R. rugosa, originally from China and Japan
Yet we find a paradoxical situation also encountered with some other spice names (parsley, ginger): Although the Old Greek name survives in the majority of recent European languages, it has vanished from Modern Greek, which has an unrelated name, triandafillo [τριαντάφυλλο]. That name properly refers to the specific thirty-petal cultivar grown for rose oil in South East Europe (Old Greek triakonta [τριάκοντα] thirty and phyllon [φύλλον] leaf), but is now used as generic term for rose; it also lies behind Albanian trëndafil rose.
The botanic epitheton damascena refers to Damascus, today capital of Syria, whence the fragrant rose allegedly was brought to Europe during the crusades.
Sanskrit shatapattra [शतपत्त्र] means hundred leaves (referring to filled flowers) and vrittapushpa [वृत्तपुष्प] round flower.
The term attar for rose oil (also spelt otto) goes back to Farsi atar [عطر] perfume derived from Arabic itr [عطر] perfume.
