rowan

noun

row·​an ˈrau̇-ən  ˈrō-ən 

1

a

: european mountain ash

b

: american mountain ash

2

: the fruit of a European or American mountain ash

Illustration of rowan

• leaves and fruit

Examples of rowan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In southeast London’s Brockley Hill Park, opera singer Tristan Hambleton has been using a watering can to sustain a rowan sapling amid a parched meadow. —Luke Vargas, WSJ, 29 Aug. 2022

As the island’s ice cap melts, the land is becoming more habitable for trees, of which there are four native species, most significantly the rowan or mountain ash. —Nancy Lord, Anchorage Daily News, 15 May 2022

The stone structure had fallen into disrepair over the centuries, so the team removed an invading rowan tree and cleaned up its collapsed walls. —Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Apr. 2020

Tiny gardens: rowan tree, cherry tree, silver birch, ornamental willow—a horrible pompom on a stick. —Anne Enright, The New Yorker, 2 Mar. 2020

But what set the houses off, made them seem jewel-like, were the huge oaks and small sassafras and maples, the chestnuts, rowans. —Jane Smiley, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2019

Word History

Etymology

of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect raun rowan; akin to Old English rēad red — more at red

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2