Rō'sa-ry, n.
n. [Lat. rosarium, a place planted with roses, from rosarius, of roses, from rosa, a rose; Fr. rosaire, Sp. & It. rosario, L. Lat. rosarium, a string of beads, Fr. roseraie, a place planted with roses.]
Sense 1. A bed of roses, or place where roses grow.
Sense 2. (Rom. Cath. Church.) A series of prayers, and a string of beads by which they are counted. “To throw contempt . . . upon 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 Pater Noster, marked by a larger bead, and concluded by a Gloria Patri. Five decades make a chaplet, which is a third part of the rosary. Bp. Fitzpatrick.
