Rosebud

Rosebud, without seeing the movie its almost impossible to know the significance of the word. With some investigation and research, I found an interview with Orson Wells online.  He explained that, “Rosebud” is the trade name of a cheap little sled on which Kane was playing on the day he was taken away from his home and his mother."  The word held the ideas and memories of his mother. "In his subconscious it represented the simplicity, the comfort, above all the lack of responsibility in his home, and also it stood for his mother’s love which Kane never lost." 

Overall, the article explains that Wells used "Rosebud" and a representation of the accumulation of a man's life. Kane's overall horde of expensive items ended up meaning less than the little sled made by Rosebud.