Rosamund

A Dictionary of First Names | 2006 | 700+ words | Copyright

Rosamund ♀ From an Old French personal name of Germanic (Frankish) origin, from hros ‘horse’ + mund ‘protection’. This was adopted by the Normans and introduced by them to Britain. In the later Middle Ages it was reanalysed by folk etymology as if from Latin rosa munda ‘pure rose’ or rosa mundi ‘rose of the world’, titles given to the Virgin Mary. The spelling Rosamond has been common since the Middle Ages, when scribes used o for u, to distinguish it from n and m, all of which consisted of very similar downstrokes of the pen. ‘Fair Rosamond’ ( Rosamond Clifford) was a legendary beauty who lived at Woodstock in Oxfordshire in the 12th century. She is said to have been the mistress of King Henry II, and to have been murdered by the queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, in 1176.

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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Rosamund." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Rosamund." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Rosamund.html

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Rosamund." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Rosamund.html

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