sage--prophetes.ai

▪ I. sage, n.¹
    (seɪdʒ)
    Forms: 4–6 sauge, 4–5 sawge, salge, (5 sauoge), 6 saulge, sayge, 5– sage.
    [ME. sauge, a. F. sauge (13th c. in Littré):—L. salvia (whence late OE. saluie, ME. save n.). Cf. Pr., Sp., It. salvia, Pg. salva; also MLG. salvie, selve, Du. salie, OHG. salbeia, salveia fem. (mod.G. salbei masc.). For the phonology in Eng. cf. chafe v., gauge, safe, save.]
    1. A plant of the genus Salvia, N.O. Labiatæ; esp. S. officinalis, an aromatic culinary herb. Hence, the leaves of this plant used in Cookery.
    Sage, much esteemed formerly as a medicinal herb, is not now included in the British Pharmacopœia, but in domestic medicine is still used in the preparation of sage-tea (see 6 b).

a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. (Percy Soc.) 26 He is blosme opon bleo brihtest under bis, With celydoyne ant sauge, as thou thi self sys. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 131 Salge is his herbe appourtenant Aboven al the remenant. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 11 Do þer to sage and persely ȝoyng. 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe ii. xvi. (1541) 29 Sauge. It healeth, and sommewhat byndeth. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lxxvii. 250 There be two sortes of Sage, the one is small and franke, and the other is great. The great Sage is of three sortes, that is to say, greene, white, and redde. 1584 Cogan Haven Health xi. 33 Sage is vsed commonly in sawces, as to stuffe veale, porke, rosting pigges, and that for good cause. 1590 Spenser Muiopotmos 187 The wholesome saulge, and lavender still gray. 1610 Fletcher Faithf. Sheph. ii. ii, These for frenzy be A speedy and a soueraigne remedie. The bitter Wormewood, Sage and Marigold. 1714 Gay Sheph. Week ii. 13 Marbled with Sage the hard'ning Cheese she press'd. 1766 [Anstey] Bath Guide ii. (1807) 77 But what's the sage without the goose? 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 289/2 Sage, Salvia officinalis, a hardy evergreen undershrub, belonging to the labiates, of which there are two varieties, the green-leaved and the red-leaved.

2. Cookery. † a. A force-meat, ‘pottage’, or sauce in which sage is the chief ingredient. sage yfarced, sage stuffing. Also quasi-adj. in partly anglicized names of culinary preparations containing sage, as fritter sage, sauce sage. Obs.

? c 1390 Forme of Cury (1780) 23 Pygges in sawse Sawge. Ibid. 72 Sawge yfarced. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 28 Sauge. Take Gyngere, Galyngale, Clowys, & grynde in a morter; þan take an handfulle of Sawge, & do þer-to [etc.]. Ibid. 41 Sauoge. Take Pigis fete clene y-pekyd; þan tak Freysshe broþe of Beff, & draw mylke of Almaundys, & þe Piggys þer-in; þen mence Sawge [etc.]. c 1450 Ibid. 72 Pigge or chiken in Sauge. c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 501 Frutur sawge.

b. sage and onions: a stuffing chiefly composed of those ingredients, used for goose, duck, pork, etc. Also sage-and-onion stuffing.

1747 H. Glasse Cookery 4 Some love the Knuckle [of pork] stuffed with Onions and Sage shred small. 1824 New Syst. Cookery 113 Ducks roasted. Stuff one with sage and onion,..crums,..and pepper and salt. 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 241 (heading) Sage-and-onion stuffing, for geese, ducks, and pork. 189. Encycl. Pract. Cookery (ed. Garrett) s.v., Sage-and-Onion Stuffing.

3. In the names of plants of other genera. Bengal sage, Meriandra bengalensis (Treas. Bot. 1866). bitter, † garlick, † mountain or wood sage, Teucrium Scorodonia. black sage, (a) Cordia cylindrostachya; (b) in California, Trichostema lanatum (Cent. Dict. 1891). French sage, Phlomis fruticosa. † Jerusalem sage, also † sage of Jerusalem or † Bethlehem, (a) Pulmonaria officinalis; (b) Phlomis fruticosa. seaside sage, Croton balsamiferum (Treas. Bot.). † rock sage, a species of Sideritis. white sage, in U.S., a woolly chenopodiaceous plant used as a febrifuge, Eurotia lanata; also applied to other plants of the same order, Kochia prostrata and Audibertia polystachya (Cent. Dict.). wild sage, (a) = bitter sage; (b) see quot. 1866.

a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 10/2 Ambrosia, wild sauge. 1548 Turner Names of Herbs (1881) 18 Bacchar or Baccaris is the herbe (as I thynke) that we call in english Sage of Hierusalem. 1562 Rock sage [see ironwort]. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. lxxxv. 125 Sage of Jerusalem hath rough, hearie, and large, browne greene leaues, sprinckled with diuers white spots. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. ccv. 535 Wood Sage, or Garlicke Sage. Ibid. ccliii. 625 Of French Sage, or woodie Mullein... They are called of the learned men of our time Verbasca syluestria... In English it is generally called French Sage, we may call it Sage Mullein. Ibid. cclxxv. 663 Pulmonaria,..Sage of Ierusalem, Cowslip of Ierusalem, Sage of Bethlem. 1731 Miller Gard. Dict., Scordium,..Wild Sage, vulgo. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii. 374 Several other..Shrubs..are now in Flower, as the several sorts of Jerusalem Sage. 1864 Grisebach Flora W. Ind. Isl. 787 Black sage: Cordia cylindrostachya. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 15 The wood germander, or bitter sage. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v., Wild Sage, a name in the Cape colony for Tarchonanthus camphoratus.

4. = sage-brush (see 6 b).

1805 M. Lewis Jrnl. 12 May in Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1904) II. 29 The wild hysop sage..and some other herbs also grow in the plains and hills. 1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 127 A kind of wild sage or hyssop, as high as a man's head,..grows in these bottoms. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 206 The country, hereabout,..producing very little grass, but a considerable quantity of sage or wormwood. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xxvi, A desert country, here and there covered with wild sage and mezquite. 1872 C. King Mountain. Sierra Nev. xiii. 265 Desert too gentle and overspread with sage to be terrible.

5. The colour of sage.

1881 C. C. Harrison Woman's Handiwork i. 20 A ground of sage or of Pompeian red velvet. 1971 Vogue 15 Sept. 129/1 Suit..sizes 10–16: colours: brown/white, burnt orange/white, olive/sage.

6. a. attrib. and Comb.: simple attrib., as sage-ash, sage colour, sage juice, sage leaf, sage oil, sage root, sage-scrub; also in the names of preparations flavoured or medicated with sage, as sage ale, sage bread, sage drink, sage gargle, sage wine; instrumental, as sage-covered adj.; similative, as sage-leaved adj.; parasynthetic, as sage-coloured adj.

1584 Cogan Haven Health xi. 33 Much after the same manner [as the making of sage wine] is made *Sage ale. 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cclii. 624 Sage ale, being brewed as it shoulde be, with Sage, Scabious, Betonie, Spikenard, Squinanth, and Fennell seedes.

1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 147 An eagle at the top of a low cedar-bush On the *sage-ash desert.

1668 R. Sharrock Let. to Boyle 7 Apr., B.'s Wks. 1744 V. 4, I have known *sage bread do much good in drying up watry humours.

1596 Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 79 Sould him of the leight *sayge culler q' & d.

Ibid., iij yeardes of leight *sayge cullerd fustian.

1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. xlii, We passed over *sage-covered plains.

1747 H. Glasse Cookery 121 *Sage Drink.

189. Encycl. Cookery (ed. Garrett), *Sage gargle.

1755 Wesley Prim. Physic cxx. 73 Hoarseness... Take a Spoonful of *Sage-juice Morning and Evening.

14.. Med. MS. in Anglia XIX. 78 Take a *sawge-leef and wryte þeron. 1661 J. Childrey Brit. Baconica 5 They have a slate of three sorts, blew, sage-leaf-coloured, and gray. 1747 Wesley Prim. Phys. (1762) 88 Apply boiled Sage leaves hot. 1884 Browning Ferishtah Prol., Sage-leaf is bitter-pungent—so's a quince.

1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 13 C. Salvifolius. *Sage-leaved Cistus. 1825 Greenhouse Comp. I. 95 Phlomis Lychnites... A sage-leaved whitish rugose plant.

1888 W. T. Brannt Treat. Anim. & Veget. Fats 539 *Sage oil, oleum salviæ, obtained by distillation from the leaves of the sage.

14.. Stockholm Med. MS. ii. 867 in Anglia XVIII. 328 Rwe is eke a souereyn bote, To settyn abowtyn a *sawge-rote.

1927 D. H. Lawrence Mornings in Mexico 136 Across the grey desert..low, grey, *sage-scrub was coming to pallid yellow.

1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 575 Vse it as *Sage wine to consume flegme.

b. Special Comb.: sage-apple, a gall-apple formed on a species of sage, Salvia pomifera, eaten as a fruit in Crete; sage-brush, a collective name applied to various species of Artemisia, esp. A. tridentata; also attrib.; Sagebrush State, popular name of Nevada (formerly also applied to Wyoming); sage-bush = sage-brush above; sage-cheese, a kind of cheese which is flavoured and mottled by mixing a decoction of sage-leaves with the cheese-curd; sage grass, U.S. = sage-brush; sage-green, a shade of dull greyish green resembling that of the foliage of the sage plant Salvia officinalis; also as adj.; hence sage-greeny a., of the colour of sage-green; sage-grey a. = sage-green; † sage mullein = French sage (see 3 above); sage rose, † (a) a plant of the genus Cistus (obs.); (b) a shrub, Turnera ulmifolia, found in the W. Indies and S. America; sage tea, an infusion of sage-leaves, used as a stomachic and slight stimulant; sage tree, (a) Phlomis fruticosa; (b) see quot. 1884; sage-willow, a dwarf grey American willow, Salix tristis; sage-wood, (a) = sage-brush; (b) a small tree or shrub, Buddleia salviifolia, of the family Loganiaceæ, found in southern Africa and bearing leaves like those of common sage and racemes of white or purple flowers; also, the hard, heavy wood of this tree.

1832 Veg. Subst. Food 321 *Sage-apples.

1850 K. Webster Gold Seekers of '49 (1917) iii. 84 We were compelled to tie our mules to *sage brush to keep them from straying away. 1861 ‘Mark Twain’ Lett. (1917) I. 54 On the plains, sage-brush and grease-wood grow about twice as large as the common geranium. 1872 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds 233 Confined to the sterile plains and sage-brush (Artemisia) tracts of Western U.S. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. II. ii. xlvii. 217 A desert..whose lower grounds were covered with that growth of alkaline plants which the Americans call sage-brush. 1907 S. E. White Arizona Nights 191 We began to toil in the ankle-deep sand of a little sage-brush flat. 1946 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist v. 53 A few forms like sage-brush or creosote bush..repeat themselves for fifty miles on end.

1893 L. Wagner Significance of Names 35 Nevada is also called..The *Sage-Brush State, from the wild artemesia covering the plains. 1917 Boston Even. Globe 11 Apr. 16/4 Nevada has been known for many years as the Sagebrush State. 1934 G. E. Shankle State Names ii. 155 The sobriquet, the Sagebrush State, applied to Wyoming, refers to the fact that wild sage (Artemisia tridentata) grows on the desert sections of this State. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 20 June 10-c/2 Sagebrush, Silver and Battle Born State are nicknames for Nevada, first explored by the Spaniards in 1776. 1976 Sci. Amer. Oct. 20/3 Strong lives with his wife and 11-year-old daughter in pine and sagebrush country overlooking the Rio Grande. 1977 J. F. Fixx Compl. Bk. Running ii. 25 We are in a canyon surrounded by mountains, trees and sagebrush.

1807 P. Gass Jrnl. 204 The *sage bushes..grow in great abundance on some parts of these plains. 1874 Treas. Bot. Suppl. s.v., Sage-bush, Artemisia tridentata. 1902 ‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Jan. 269/2 He started on a run, racing in and out among the sage-bushes. 1977 J. L. Harper Population Biol. Plants xx. 604 Woodland dominated by pinyon pine..is intimately associated with Artemisia sage-bush communities.

1714 Gay Sheph. Week ii. 16 But Marian now..Nor yellow Butter nor *Sage Cheese prepares. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. xii, It [the sea] is habitually hard upon Sir Leicester, whose countenance it greenly mottles in the manner of sage-cheese.

1893 Scribner's Mag. June 801/2 To inhale the odor of..pungent aromatic things in the tall ‘*Sage grass’.

1810 Repository of Arts (Ackermann) Apr. 262/2 Light *sage green, or cream-coloured kerseymere breeches. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 642 Sage-green, pea, and sea-greens. 1929 [see demi-semi]. 1976 Star (Sheffield) 20 Nov. 10/2 (Advt.), Bed-settee with arms. Teak frame. Sage green expanded vinyl.

1884 G. Allen Philistia I. 49 Three afternoon dresses, the grey,..the *sage-greeny æsthetic one, and the peacock-blue.

1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers 190 Day has gone to dust on the *sage-grey desert.

1562 Turner Herbal ii. 161 The wilde one [Verbascum]..may be called in Englishe *Sage mullen.

1597 Gerarde Herbal Table *Sage rose and his kinds, looke Cistus. 1864 Grisebach Flora W. Ind. Isl. 787 Sage-rose: Turnera ulmifolia.

1705 Hickeringill Priest-cr. ii. vi. 62 As for *Sage-Tea, it being an English Drink,..I care not if they Drink it without the assistance of Mr. Say-Grace. 1824 Loudon Encycl. Gard. (ed. 2) §4141 The decoction called sage-tea is usually made from one variety, the small-leaved green, or sage of virtue.

1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. iii, There are several other Trees..in Flower, as..Phlomis or *Sage Trees. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. App. s.v., Sage of Jerusalem, or Sage-tree. 1884 W. Miller Plant-n., Sage tree, Brush-land, of Australia. Psychotria daphnoides.

1846 G. B. Emerson Rep. Trees & Shrubs Mass. 256 The *sage willow is a slender, hoary plant, or a spreading tufted bush. 1854 L. Pappe Silva Capensis 31 *Sage-wood... Wood hard, tough, heavy. 1932 Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk Medicinal & Poisonnous Plants S. Afr. 140 Sagewood, Saliehout,..is possibly used medicinally by the Hottentots. 1973 Stand. Encycl. S. Afr. IX. 458/2 The sagewood..belongs to the rather heterogeneous family Loganiaceæ.

c. In the names of animals and birds found chiefly in the sage-brush districts of N. America, as sage cock, grouse, the largest grouse found in America, Centrocercus europhasianus; sage hare = sage rabbit; sage hen, = sage cock; sage rabbit, one of several small hares of western North America, esp. Sylvilagus nuttallii; sage sparrow, each of the two fringilline birds Amphispiza bilineata and A. belli; sage thrasher, the mountain mocking bird, Oreoscoptes montanus.

1840 A. Wislizenus Ausflug nach Felsen-Gebirgen 1839 ix. 49 *Sage cock, cock of the plains. 1859 S. F. Baird Catal. N. Amer. Birds (Smithsonian Misc. Coll.) 462 Centrocercus urophasianus Sw. Sage Cock. 1917 T. G. Pearson Birds Amer. II. 30/1 The Sage Cock has a sharp cackle.

1884 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2) 580 *Sage Grouse.

1868 Amer. Naturalist II. 536 The *Sage Hare..is more rare near Fort Benton.

1843 J. Williams Jrnl. 27 July in Narr. Tour to Oregon (1921) 14 The *sage hen is found here also. 1861 G. F. Berkeley Sportsm. W. Prairies ii. 25 There is a certain bird of the grouse species..called the ‘sage hen’. 1917 [see cock n.¹ 10]. 1962 E. Lucia Klondike Kate viii. 170 A great flight of sagehens darkening the sky.

1846 R. B. Sage Scenes Rocky Mts. p. iv, [The] *sage rabbit..is nearly three times the size of the common rabbit. 1859 S. F. Baird Mammals N. Amer. 602 Lepus Artemisia, Bachman. Sage Rabbit. 1879 Goode etc. Catal. Anim. Resources U.S. 20 Lepus sylvaticus Bach., var. Nuttalli.—Sage Rabbit.

1884 Coues Key N. Amer. Birds (ed. 2) 375 Amphispiza..*Sage Sparrows.

Ibid. 249 *Sage Thrasher.

d. attrib. or as adj. Resembling the colour of sage (sense 1). Cf. sense 5 above.

1785 E. Sheridan Jrnl. 5 July (1960) 59, I have one [plume of feathers] for mine [sc. a hat] of dark sage, pink and white feathers. 1820 M. Edgeworth Let. 8 June (1979) 160 My two tabbinets, sage and fawn ditto have done excellent service, new furbished. 1904 T. Eaton & Co. Catal. Spring & Summer 187/1 All-wood carpet..in red and sage colorings.

▪ II. sage, a. and n.²
    (seɪdʒ)
    Also 6 saage, Sc. saig(e, sauge.
    [a. F. sage adj. and n. (11th c. in Hatz.-Darm.; OF. had also saige, savie):—Com. Rom. sabio (Pr. satge-s, sabi-s, Sp., Pg. sabio, It. saggio, savio):—popular L. *sapius (cf. L. nesapius ignorant) f. sap-ĕre to be wise (pr. pple. sapiens wise).]
    A. adj. Now only literary.
    1. Of a person: Wise, discreet, judicious. In ME. often the sage (following a proper name). In modern use in narrowed applications: Practically wise, rendered prudent or judicious by experience.

1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4069 Nou it worþ iended þat Sibile þe sage sede biuore. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1576 As þe sage sathrapas þat sorsory couþe. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. xi. 257 For salamon þe sage þat sapience made. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 383 This..Is that Sibille of whom ye wite, That alle men yit clepen sage. c 1460 Ashby Dicta Philos. 1222 To speke litil, is knowen a man sage. 1490 Caxton Eneydos liii. 148 Retourne agayn towarde eneas and make peas wyth hym yf ye be sage. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lxxxvi. 274 There is no clerke lyuynge so sage that can put it in wrytynge. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 45 The best learned and sagest men in this Realme..both loue shoting and vse shoting. 1562 Winȝet Cert. Tractates i. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 5 Ȝour wyse, saige, and grave familiar servands. 1571 Satir. Poems Reform. xxvii. 11 Bott schaw thyselff both scharpe, sauge [v.r. saig], and sinceir. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iii. vii. 227 Cousin of Buckingham, and sage graue men, Since you will [etc.]. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, iv. v. 121 All you sage Counsailors, hence. a 1625 Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 481 The Chancellor, and Treasurer, taking to them the Iustices, and other such sage persons, as they thinke fit. a 1687 Waller Maid's Trag. v. Wks. (1729) 348 Can you expect, that she should be so sage To rule her blood, and you not rule your rage? 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. v. §35 The wise reasoning of a certain sage magistrate. 1817 Byron Beppo xxvii, For most men (till by losing rendered sager) Will back their own opinions with a wager. Ibid. xxxv, No wonder such accomplishments should turn A female head, however sage and steady. 1833 H. Martineau Three Ages ii. 70 These housekeepers, made sage by circumstance, looked and spoke with something very little like mirth. 1868 Milman St. Paul's xiii. 346 But sager Juxon..withdrew from the proud but perilous office. a 1872 Maurice Friendsh. Bks. i. (1874) 12 If I thought of him [sc. Bacon], even as the sagest of book-makers and not as a human being.

b. Of advice, conduct, etc.: Characterized by profound wisdom; based on sound judgement.

1531 Elyot Gov. iii. xxii. (1534) 218 b, Roboaz..comtempned the sage counsayle of auncyente men, and imbraced the lyght perswasions of yonge men. c 1590 Marlowe Faust. i. i. 97 Come..make me blest with your sage conference. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 413 Weel whisper ore a couplet or two of most sage sawes. 1641 Milton Reform. ii. 45 Little thought he of this sage caution. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 380 The infinitely sage plans of Nature. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 176 He gives sage counsels about the nursing of children.

c. Of the countenance, bearing, etc.: Exhibiting sageness or profound wisdom. In mod. use commonly somewhat ironical.

1816 Scott Antiq. ix, Miss Oldbuck re-entered, with a singularly sage expression of countenance. 1849 Dickens Dav. Copp. xix, Mr. Dick had regularly assisted at our councils, with a meditative and sage demeanour.

2. In phraseological combinations after Fr. use: † a. sage fool (also in Fr. form fol sage): a jester or court fool. Obs. b. sage woman (also in AF. form † sage feme): a midwife. rare.

1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 423 Ȝe lordes and ladyes..þat fedeth foles sages, flatereres and lyeres. Ibid. 444 A fol sage syttynge at the heyȝ table. ? c 1475 in Q. Eliz. Acad. 77 There was A grete lorde þat had A Sage fole, the whyche he lovyd Marvaylous well. 1672 [H. Stubbe] Rosemary & Bayes 2 Baptisme 'tis thought may be administred by a sage feme. 1833 Disraeli Cont. Fleming iii. xix, A sage woman of great reputation was at our house.

† 3. Grave, dignified, solemn. Obs.

1564 Brief Exam. C iij b, I woulde haue the Ministers of Churches to vse sage vesture. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse A iij, He wore..a garnish of night-caps, which a sage butten cap..ouer spread very orderly. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 260 We should prophane the seruice of the dead, To sing sage Requiem, and such rest to her As to peace-parted Soules. 1632 Milton Penseroso 117 And if ought els great Bards beside In sage and solemn tunes have sung, Of Turneys and of Trophies hung. 1644 ― Judgm. Bucer Wks. 1851 IV. 301 In a point of sagest moment.

    B. n.
    1. A man of profound wisdom; esp. one of those persons of ancient history or legend who were traditionally famous as the wisest of mankind; hence, one whose exceptional wisdom entitles him to a degree of veneration like that which was accorded to these. In early use sometimes with weaker sense, a wise man.
    The ‘seven sages of Greece’ were Thales, Solon, Periander, Cleobulus, Chilon, Bias, and Pittacus, to each of whom some wise maxim is attributed by ancient writers. The ‘seven sages of Rome’ are the personages of a romance, of Oriental origin, which was popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. ‘Eastern sages’: often applied in hymns (after Milton) to the ‘three Magi’: see Magus 2.

13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 4, I sal yow tel,..Of the seuen sages of Rome. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 7 Me thynkyth, Sauynge souereynes and sages avise, þat þe moste myscheff..Is demed þe dede y-do aȝeins kynde. c 1440 Generydes 88 This old fader..Of vij Saugys callid the wysest That was in Rome. 1547–64 Bauldwin Mor. Philos. (Palfr.) 1 There were besides these sophistes, another kinde called sapientes, or sages, as was Thales, Solon [etc.]. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades ii. x. (1592) 223 Musonius, Hierocles, and other auncient sages. 1642 tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. xi. §739. 323 Master Littleton who was an honorable sage of the Law. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 362 A Starr..proclaims him com, And guides the Eastern Sages, who enquire His place. 1735 Thomson Liberty ii. 222 The great Athenian Sage, And Father of Philosophy [sc. Socrates]. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xviii. 337 He was..but as one of the old chiefs of the bygone age—half warrior, half sage.

b. In playful or ironic use.

1751 Johnson Rambler No. 120 ¶2 He called for help upon the sages of physick. 1822 W. Irving Braceb. Hall xxvi. 238 In vain did the sages of the village interfere. 1893 Times 8 May 9/3 They have cited..some of the mustiest sages of the law in confirmation of this view.

2. Comb.: simple attrib., as sage-like adj.; objective, as sage-inspiring adj.; instrumental, as sage-exalted, sage-instructed adjs.

1728–46 Thomson Spring 209 The dissolving clouds..to the sage-instructed eye unfold The various twine of light. 1735 ― Liberty ii. 197 The Sage-exalted Chief [Xenophon]. 1745 T. Warton Pleas. Melancholy 256 Tho' thro' the blissful scenes Ilissus roll His sage-inspiring flood. 1879 R. H. Douglas Confucianism iii. 72 He alone, possessing all the sage-like qualities, shows himself..fitted to exercise rule.

▪ III. sage
obs. f. sedge; var. seg Obs.