Rosicrucian, n. and a.
(ˌrəʊzɪˈkruːʃ(ɪ)ən)
Also 7 Roso-, Rose-, Rosie-, 8 Rosy-, 7–8 Rosacrucian (7 -ant); 7 Rose-, 8 Rosy-, 7–9 Rosicrusian, 9– (after G. Rosenkreuz) Rosenkreuzian; 7 Rosi-crutian.
[f. mod.L. rosa crucis (Du Cange) or crux, as a rendering of G. Rosenkreuz (see def.): cf. F. rose-croix, Sp. rosacruz, and rosy cross s.v. rosy a. 5.]
A. n. A member of a supposed society or order, reputedly founded by one Christian Rosenkreuz in 1484, but first mentioned in 1614, whose members were said to claim various forms of secret and magic knowledge, as the transmutation of metals, the prolongation of life, and power over the elements and elemental spirits. Also, a member of a present-day Rosicrucian society (see sense B below).
| 1624 T. Scott Vox Dei 52 The bretheren of the invisible order of the Rosacru[ci]ants. 1653 Walton Angler xii. 227 A mysterious knack, which..lies locked up in the braine or brest of some chimical men, that like the Rosi-crutians, yet will not reveal it. 1663 Spencer Prodigies (1665) 46 The Rosie-Crucians acted so hugely by imagination in Philosophy,..are so invincibly resolved upon their hypotheses, that [etc.]. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. i. (1695) 48 This some may suspect to be a step beyond the Rose⁓crucians. 1714 Addison Spect. No. 574 ¶1, I was once engaged in Discourse with a Rosicrusian about the great Secret. c 1740 Bolingbroke Ess. Pope Wks. 1754 IV. 85 All the folly and knavery..of wizards, of witches, and of rosycrucians. 1820 Scott Monast. ix, ‘I used to doubt the existence of Cabalists and Rosicrucians,’ thought the Sub-Prior. 1856 R. A. Vaughan Mystics (1860) II. 98 The Rosicrucians pretended that they could prolong life indefinitely. 1891 Myst. Rosie Cross 5 It is commonly held..that there is a close..connection between the Alchymists and the Rosicrucians. 1957 Encycl. Brit. XIX. 560/1 That it is not always possible to prove the existence of the order in a given country at any particular moment does not disturb the Rosicrucians, for it seems to be recognized that there occur periods when the order is deliberately ‘in sleep’. |
B. adj. Belonging or pertaining to, connected with, characteristic of, this society. Now also applied to various societies that claim to continue the Rosicrucian tradition (see
quot. 1959.
| 1662 Sparrow tr. Behme's Rem. Wks., Apol. Perf. 132 Not Tinctured, according to the Cabalisticall, Theophrasticall, Roso-Crucian kind. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. iii. 15 Rosi-crusian Virtuoso's Can see with Ears, and hear with Noses. 1710 Addison Tatler No. 243 ¶2 To speak in Rosycrucian Lore, I have entered into the Clefts of the Earth. 1712–4 Pope Rape Lock To Mrs. A. Fermor, These Machines I determined to raise on a very new and odd foundation, the Rosicrucian doctrine of Spirits. 1815 Miss Porden The Veils Introd., On the Rosicrusian mythology, a system of poetical machinery might be constructed of the highest character. 1837 K. H. Digby Mores Catholici viii. vi. 193 The cabalistic learning, expressed in the unintelligible language of Theosophy, which was in the seventeenth century to be the foundation of the Rosenkreuzian society. 1864 W. Smith Shaw's Hist. Eng. Lit. xv. (1865) 294 The fantastic theories of Paracelsus and the Rosicrucian philosophers. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. XI. 840/2 In the mid-19th century there came into being a Rosicrucian Society in England, an offshoot of masonry, the leading figure being R. W. Little. The name has also been appropriated by American theosophy. None of these later developments can claim historical continuity with any original group. 1961 Listener 21 Sept. 443/2 Nothing of his marriage or his dealings with Rudolf Steiner, the Rosicrucian Order, or the Catholic Church. 1977 Daily Times (Lagos) 5 Jan. 2 (Advt.), Members of the Rosicrucian Order Amorc (Nigeria) have applied to be registered under the Land Perpetual (Succession) Act. |
Hence
Rosiˈcrucianism,
Rosicruciˈanity,
Rosiˈcrucianize v.| c 1740 Bolingbroke Ess. Pope Wks. 1754 IV. 44 Had Arnobius..lived in our days, you would have been..made the father of *rosycrucianism. 1850 Fraser's Mag. XLII. 528 The Rosicrucianism of so vigorously-minded a man as Samuel Johnson. 1955 C. S. Lewis Surprised by Joy iv. 62 She was..floundering in the mazes of Theosophy, Rosicrucianism, Spiritualism; the whole Anglo-American Occultist tradition. 1961 Listener 21 Dec. 1089/1 For a time Satie dabbled in Rosicrucianism. |
| 1838 Blackw. Mag. XLIV. 639 A circumstance occurred..that by no means diminishes the *Rosicrucianity of my notions of the spiritual. |
| 1833 Edin. Rev. LVII. 136 A constant endeavour to *rosicrusianize every subject. |