Rosary vs. Crucifix — What's the Difference?

The Holy Rosary (; Latin: rosarium, in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), also known as the Dominican Rosary, or simply the Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used in the Catholic Church and to the string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. When referring to the prayer, the word is usually capitalized ("the Rosary", as is customary for other names of prayers, such as "the Lord's Prayer", and "the Hail Mary"); when referring to the beads, it is written with a lower-case initial letter ("a rosary bead").

A crucifix (from Latin cruci fixus meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is an image of Jesus on the cross, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the corpus (Latin for "body").The crucifix is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the most common forms of the Crucifixion in the arts.

A form of devotion to the Virgin Mary, chiefly consisting of three sets of five decades each of the Hail Mary, each decade preceded by the Lord's Prayer and ending with a doxology.

An image or figure of Jesus on the cross.

One of these sets of decades.

A cross viewed as a symbol of Jesus's crucifixion.

A string of beads of 5 or 15 decades on which these prayers are counted.

A wooden cross used for crucifixions, as by the Romans. Category:en:Capital punishment

Similar beads used by other religious groups.

An ornamental or symbolic sculptural representation of Christ on a cross, often worn as a pendant or displayed in a Christian church.

Prayer beads, a string of beads used to keep track of repetitions in prayer, particularly in the Roman Catholic Marian prayer "Hail Mary" (Ave Maria)

(gymnastics) The iron cross, a position on the rings where the gymnast holds the rings straight out on either side of the body.

A Roman Catholic devotion involving the repetition of a series of Marian prayers, usually 5, 15, or 20 decades of "Hail Marys", each decade beginning with "Our Father" and ending with "Glory Be to the Father", but sometimes including other Roman Catholic, Anglican, or Lutheran prayers.

A representation in art of the figure of Christ upon the cross; esp., the sculptured figure affixed to a real cross of wood, ivory, metal, or the like, used by the Roman Catholics in their devotions.

(by extension) A series or collection of thoughts, literary pieces, etc. intended for similar contemplation.

The cross or religion of Christ.

A 13th-century coin minted in Europe as a counterfeit debased form of the sterling silver penny of Edward I, at first accepted as a halfpenny and then outlawed.

Representation of the cross on which Jesus died

A rose garden.

A gymnastic exercise performed on the rings when the gymnast supports himself with both arms extended horizontally

A bed of roses, or place where roses grow.

A series of prayers (see Note below) arranged to be recited in order, on beads; also, a string of beads by which the prayers are counted.

A chapelet; a garland; a series or collection, as of beautiful thoughts or of literary selections.

A coin bearing the figure of a rose, fraudulently circulated in Ireland in the 13th century for a penny.

Beads used in counting prayers (especially Catholic rosary)