sub rosa \suhb-ROH-zuh\, adverb:
1. Secretly; privately; confidentially.
adjective:
1. Designed to be secret or confidential; secretive; private.
Second, Abramson argues that since a certain amount of jury nullification goes on anyway, sub rosa, it should be brought out into the open.
– Richard A. Posner, “Juries on trial”, Commentary, March 1, 1995
Sub rosa comes from the Latin, literally “under the rose,” from the ancient association of the rose with confidentiality, the origin of which traces to a famous story in which Cupid gave Harpocrates, the god of silence, a rose to bribe him not to betray the confidence of Venus. Hence the ceilings of Roman banquet-rooms were decorated with roses to remind guests that what was spoken sub vino (under the influence of wine) was also sub rosa.
