1) Etymologically a word akin to resin, a substance which is obtained as a residue after the distillation of oil of turpentine from crude turpentine (OED).
1392-3 In xxvj lb de Rosyne pro eisdem torch’ emp., 2s 2d, Ripon
1444 lego Quinquaginta libras cere et rosyn ad quatuor torcheas comburendas, Harpham. It was listed in the inventory of a Knaresborough shoemaker: 1541 one stoyne of sett likoure and oille and sex dossan of rossen xs. As a verb its use is illustrated in early building accounts: 1409 Et Johanni Lytster pro roseynyng portarum viid, Beverley, and in the ordinances of the Beverley cordwaners: 1627 ‘sewed with good thread well twisted and sufficiently waxed with wax well rosond’. In Sheffield, the cutlers used it for varnishing their products and in 1709 Joseph Webster had A pair of bags Emory and Rozin in his inventory. In 1723, Elizabeth Thwaites had Rozen in her shop and in 1735 Joseph Morton also had some Rossin.