rowan UK /ˈɹəʊ.ən/US /ˈɹoʊ.ən/ noun4 •Sorbus aucuparia, the European rowan.Among the pines grew rowans hung with scarlet berries, and bilberry bushes whose leaves would be fair game for white moth caterpillars in spring. — 2020 •Any of various small deciduous trees or shrubs of genus Sorbus, belonging to the rose family, with pinnate leaves, corymbs of white flowers, and usually with orange-red berries. •(Scotland, old-fashioned) Dated form of roving (“an elongate bundle of fiber”). •(no longer used) wych-elm, Ulmus glabra. formsrowans