Etymology of Name
Rood is an old word for a type of Christian cross, bearing a lower cross-bar as well as the main upper cross-bar. It therefore means the cross which Jesus Christ was crucified upon; thus the name Holyrood is equivalent to "Holy Cross."
Read more about this topic: Holyrood Abbey
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)