Yes. It is not only used in roses. I think the term "standard" is to mean on a pole or on top of something tall.

A "patio" rose is typically a small shrub rose, suitable for keeping in a container on a patio. Not a standard.

Well, in our zone, yes, you have to bring them inside during the winter, but many people don't know that, and don't keep them in a container, they plant them directly into the ground. (BTW, I don't take my container plants in for the winter, only small newbies.)

Redsox . . . . . . . . . . Uh, do you have any recollection of that beleaguered teacher in that very boring English class who was carrying-on about weird, esoteric and strange things called homonyms, synonyms, etc, etc? Oh well, never mind . . .

This, from something called a dictionary: 'standard' (botany) . . . a shrub or small tree that through grafting or training has a single stem of limited height with a crown of leaves and flowers at its apex.

Even folks who don't have garages sometimes grow standards.

As for poodles . . . Well, I don't know.

Not getting how standard is a homonym. Yes, I did well in English, 'cept literature.

Diane, I think your zone is a bit warmer than mine especially the way you describe your microclimate. However, I decided to go out on a limb and leave 2 Tamoras outside in their containers all winter. I was not totally enamoured anyway so it was a little experiment. They actually survived just fine and we had a brutal winter.

Now, if I had left my one precious Pretty Jessica outside as an experiment, it would have died to spite me.

The tree portion or trunk with the rose variety grafted to the top is called a "standard."
jaxondel's dictionary meaning explains it well.

I did lose one in a pot this year, Soft Morning. OLoG is really trying to hang on, and I'm going to try to rescue it. I lost more that were in the ground this year...

Diane has it right. You've read of a medieval army "raising its standard" in battle. This was an identifying banner on a pole. The meaning is related to "standing" rather than to "standardized."

I lugged 50+ potted roses into the garage last winter. I had two potted In The Mood HT's that were too BS prone, despite spraying, so I decided to leave them out thinking the cold would do them in. WRONG!!

Regan's has something called a patio tree. Is this a mini tree rose?

Ask Regan.

For the rose history buffs, who might be out there, at the turn of the 19/20th century, most roses were sold grafted or rose gardens were started by planting rootstock one year and the next year roses were budded onto that rootstock.
There was quite a bit of interest in where to do the budding and some roses were recommended for standard budding (2-3 feet above the ground) and others were recommended to be dwarfs, much closer to the ground. So in those cases, dwarfed roses does not have a logical meaning.

redsox- Patio roses are tree roses that are grafted to 18" & 24" rootstock. Standards are typically 36" & 48"'s tall. Patio trees are usually kept in pots on a deck or patio while standards are planted. Hope this clears up the confusion.

So, I went to the Weeks Roses site. In their 2009 Tree catalog they list the following sizes of standard, aka "Tree" roses:
48" Tall
36" Standard & Twofers (Twofers are two varieties grafted onto one standard)
24" Patio (here's where the confusion ensues...)
18" Miniature

There are also roses called "Patio" roses that are not standards, but are regular shrub or floribunda roses bred to be kept on a patio.

Diane, thank you for the skinny on these.

So technically, couldn't you grow any of these in a container? I imagine the 48" would be quite a container. Or couldn't you plant any of them in the ground if you lived in say, zone 7b/8 or higher? Not that I do.....