sub rosa

Meaning

Adv

Covertly or in secret; confidentially, privately, secretly.

Adj

1. Carried out confidentially or secretly.
2. Not formally stated; implicit, tacit, unspoken.

Noun

Covert surveillance video used as evidence against applicants for workers' compensation to show they are not in fact (seriously) injured.

Opposite of

above-board, openly, publicly, open, public, explicit, expressed, spoken

Synonyms

backstage

confidentially

covertly

furtively

off the record

on the sly

quietly

secretly

sneakily

sneakingly

surreptitiously

under one’s hat

Translations

στα κρυφά

confidencialmente

em privacidade

sub rosa

secretamente

en secreto

en confianza

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˌsʌb ˈɹəʊzə/

Etymology

PIE word
*upó
The adverb and adjective are an unadapted borrowing from Late Latin sub rosā (literally “under the rose”), from Latin sub (“beneath, under”) + rosa (“rose”) (possibly from Ancient Greek ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”), ultimately from Proto-Iranian *wardah (“flower; rose”) and Proto-Indo-European *Hwerdʰ-, possibly a metathesis of *h₁lewdʰ- (“to grow; to rise”)). The reason for the reference to a rose is uncertain, though it has been suggested that it derives from the Ancient Greek myth that Aphrodite (the goddess of love) gave a rose to her son Eros (the god of love and sex), who in turn gave it to Harpocrates (the god of silence, confidentiality, and secrets) to ensure that Aphrodite’s sexual indiscretions were not revealed. Roses thus became a symbol of secrecy—they were, for example, used at meetings to pledge the participants not to disclose what had been discussed. Compare under the rose which is attested earlier.
The noun is derived from the adverb and adjective.