▪ I. saffron, n. and a.
(ˈsæfrən)
Forms: α. 3 saffran, 4–5 saffroun, saf(f)run, 4–6 safron, 5 saffronn, safroun, -ryn, 6 saphron, saffrane, -rone, saffroune, 7 safran, 5– saffron; β. 5 safforn, 6 saf(f)orne, -erne; γ. 5 saferen, saferoun, saipheron, sapheron(e, saferon, saffyron, 5–6 safferon.
[a. F. safran (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), whence also MLG. safferân, MDu. saffraen (Du. saffraan), MHG. saffrân (mod.G. safran). The ultimate source is Arab. zaﻋfarān (adopted unchanged in Turkish, Persian, and Hindustāni); also Jewish Aramaic zaﻋp⊇rānā). The Arabic word with prefixed definite article, azzaﻋfarān, is represented by Sp. azafran, Pg. a{cced}afrão; the word without this prefix gives rise to It. zafferano, zaffrone, Pr. safran, safrá, Cat. safrá, F. safran, med.L. safranum, med.Gr. ζαϕρᾶς, mod.Gr. σαϕράνι, Russian shafran{p}.
The origin of Arab. zaﻋfarān is unknown; it is not connected with {cced}afrā' fem. of a{cced}far yellow. The Turkish synonym {cced}afrān (Zenker; given in Redh.-Wells only as an incorrect pronunciation) may however be derived from this adj., and may be the source of some of the European forms.]
A. n.
1. a. An orange-red product consisting of the dried stigmas of Crocus sativus (see 2). Now used chiefly for colouring confectionery, liquors, etc., and for flavouring; formerly extensively used in medicine as a cordial and sudorific.
hay saffron, cake saffron: see quot. 1849.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 163 Hire winpel wit oðer maked ȝeleu mid saffran. a 1350 St. Stephen 318 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 32 The ferth [panier]..ful of safron semyd it right. c 1386 Chaucer Sir Thopas 19 His heer, his berd was lyk saffroun. c 1450 Two Cookery-bks. 70 Cast thereto Sapheron and salt. c 1460 Play Sacram. 177 Peper and saffyron and spycis smale. 1572 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 176 Cloves and saferne. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. 91 A bason of silver to wash his hands in, full of Saforne. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iii. 48, I must haue Saffron to colour the Warden Pies. 1685 Temple Ess., Health Wks. 1731 I. 284 Saffron is of all others the safest and most simple Cordial. 1718 Prior Pleasure 460 Saffron and myrrh are on his garments shed. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 118 Syrup of saffron, a sufficient quantity to form an electuary. 1840 Pereira Elem. Mat. Med. ii. 674, 4,320 flowers are required to yield one ounce of saffron. 1849 Balfour Man. Bot. §1068 These stigmata are either dried in the loose state, forming Hay Saffron, or compressed into masses, constituting Cake Saffron. 1860 Tristram Gt. Sahara vii. 119 Saffron..is a grateful addition to fried, boiled, or stewed. |
| Prov. phrase. 1778 T. Hutchinson Diary 11 Jan., Called on Bliss, who is as yellow as saffron with the jaundice. |
b. Indian saffron: turmeric.
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Turmeric, The Indians use it to dye their rice, and other foods, of a yellow colour; whence some call it Indian saffron. 1874 Treas. Bot. Suppl., Saffron, Indian, the roots of various species of Curcuma. |
2. a. The Autumnal Crocus,
Crocus sativus, which produces saffron.
| c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 645/18 [Nomina herbarum] Hic crocus, safurroun. 1551 Turner Herbal i. L iij b, Colchicon..bryngeth furthe a whytishe floure lyke vnto safforne in the ende of autumne. 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lv. 216 Saffron..groweth plentifully also in some places of England and Irelande. 1669 Evelyn Kal. Hort., Aug. (ed. 3) 23 Note, that English Saffron may be suffered to stand for increase to the third or fourth year. 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 68 Crocus officinalis sativus... Common or autumnal Saffron. 1782 J. Scott Poet. Wks. 113 Cantabrian hills the purple saffron show. |
b. bastard saffron = safflower 2; called also
American saffron,
dyer's saffron,
† mock saffron.
meadow saffron or wild saffron,
Colchicum autumnale.
spring saffron,
† saffron of the spring,
Crocus vernus.
African saffron or
† Cape saffron,
Lyperia crocea.
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbes 29 Cnecus.. is called..in englishe Bastarde saffron or mocke-saffron. Ibid., Cholchicum... It maye be called in englishe, wylde saffron. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. xxii. 34 The seede of Bastarde Saffron..is hoate. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. lxxxi. 126 In English spring time Saffrons, and vernall Saffrons. 1599 ― Catalogus B 2 Crocus vernus..Saffron of the spring. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. i. iii. Furies 178 Colchis' banefull Lilly, (With us Wilde-Saffron). 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. Nov. 79 Flowers in Prime... Anemonies, Meadow Saffron [etc.]. c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. vi. lviii, Cape Saffron with a knotty stalk. 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) II. 69 Spring Saffron, or Crocus. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1004/2 Saffron, African, Lyperia crocea. |
3. The orange-yellow colour of saffron (sense 1).
| 1382 Wyclif Lam. iv. 5 That weren nurshid in faire clois of saffroun [Vulg. qui nutriebantur in croceis]. 1601 Shakes. All's Well iv. v. 2 Your sonne was misled with a snipt taffata fellow there, whose villanous saffron wold haue made all the vnbak'd and dowy youth of a nation in his colour. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 265 ¶9 Aurora..is robed in Saffron. 1798 Landor Gebir ii. 212 Go early, ere the glad⁓some Hours Strew saffron in the path of rising Morn. 1895 Yeats Wand. Usheen Poems 35 When the sun once more in saffron stept. |
4. Old Chem. = crocus 3.
| 1681 tr. Belon's Myst. Physick Introd. 54 Draw off the Menstruum, till the Saffron of the Gold remain almost dry. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Saffron of Steel, or Mars. See Crocus Martis. Ibid., Crocus Martis Astringens, Binding Saffron of Steel. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Saffron is also a name given to several chymical preparations, from the resemblance of their colour to that of the vegetable Saffron, but more usually called Croci. Such are Saffron of Venus... Saffron of Mars... Saffron of Gold. 1758 Reid tr. Macquer's Chym. I. 368 Saffron of Mars. 1842 Francis Dict. Arts, Saffron of Antimony. Sesquisulphuret of antimony. |
5. Short for
saffron butterfly,
moth: see B. b.
| 1829 J. F. Stephens Catal. Brit. Insects II. 171 Lozotænia croceana..the Saffron. 1832 J. Rennie Conspect. Butterfl. & M. 2 The Clouded Saffron (Colias Edusa, Fabricius). |
6. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib., as
saffron bulb,
saffron colour,
saffron flower,
saffron head,
saffron-kiln,
saffron ointment,
saffron yellow (
adj.).
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xli. (1495) 626 Croco⁓magma is callyd the superfluyte of spycery: of the whyche saffron oynement is made. Ibid. xix. xvi. 873 Saffron colour dieth and coloureth humours and lycours more thanne cytryne. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iii. 545 Now saffron bulbes beth to sette or sowe. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v., Saffron-kiln, a Kiln to dry Saffron with. 1728 Douglas in Phil. Trans. XXXV. 572 To take up the Saffron Heads. 1832 J. Rennie Conspect. Butterfl. & M. 2 Wings..above deep saffron yellow. 1910 W. de la Mare Three Mulla-Mulgars viii. 108 A little bunch of faded saffron-flower. 1970 Simon & Howe Dict. Gastron. 332/1 The English town of Saffron Walden was an important producer [of saffron] and its town arms still have three saffron flowers pictured within the turreted walls. |
b. objective, as
saffron-gatherer; parasynthetic and with
pa. pples., as
saffron-clad,
saffron-coloured,
saffron-flavoured,
saffron-hued,
saffron-robed,
saffron-spotted adjs.| 1881 O. Wilde Poems 106 Beheld an awful image *saffron-clad. |
| 1548 Elyot Dict., Crocotularius, a dyer of *saffron coloured garmentes. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1622) 207 But (as the Poets say) Hymen had not there his saffron coloured coat. 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 51 Aperture white, and throat saffron-coloured. |
| 1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary (1981) xviii. 175 A final *saffron-colored light lay upon the ceiling. |
| 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xii. 243 Simnel Cake, a rich *saffron-flavoured fruit cake with almond icing. |
| 1856 Delamer Fl. Gard. (1861) 42 The *saffron-gatherers in the field. |
| 1513 Douglas æneis vi. iii. 97 With *saffron hewit frute. |
| 1971 Guardian 5 July 18/5 The *saffron-robed members of the [Hare Krishna] order. |
| 1945 J. Betjeman New Bats in Old Belfries 26 Little fields with boulders dotted, Grey-stone shoulders *saffron-spotted. |
c. Special combinations:
† saffron-bag, ? a bag in which saffron is kept;
saffron bun, a bun flavoured with saffron;
saffron cake, (
a) a cake flavoured with saffron; (
b) (see
quot. 1867,
cf. cake saffron in sense 1);
saffron cordial, a cordial made with marigold-flowers, nutmeg and saffron;
saffron crocus, the
Crocus sativus (see 2);
† saffron cut a., the designation of a kind of tobacco;
saffron milk cap, an edible orange-coloured funnel-shaped agaric,
Lactarius deliciosus;
† saffron noble, ? a saffron-cake made in imitation of the coin;
saffron rice, rice flavoured with saffron;
† saffron sauce, ? sauce flavoured with saffron;
saffron-tea, ‘an infusion of the flowers of
Carthamus tinctoria [
safflower 2], used as a diuretic in febrile disorders’ (
Syd. Soc. Lex. 1897);
saffron-thistle = safflower 2 (
Cent. Dict. 1891);
† saffron-tree, the American hackberry,
Celtis crassifolia;
saffron-wood (see
quot.);
= saffraan.
| 1508 Dunbar Flyting 171 Thy skolderit skin, hewd lyk ane *saffrone bag. 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) Life 6, I haue beene slaundered to preache that our lady was but a Saffron bagge. |
| 1852 C. M. Yonge Two Guardians i. 12 A feast..of *saffron buns, Devonshire cream, and cyder. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 158 Saffron bun and milk and soda lunch in the educational dairy. 1977 West Briton 25 Aug. 3/4 Each child received a saffron bun and a bottle of pop. |
| 1747 H. Glasse Cookery 139 To make a fine Seed or *Saffron Cake. 1867 Tristram Nat. Hist. Bible 479 These [stigmas of the saffron crocus] are pressed into small tablets before drying, when they form the saffron cake of the bazaars of the East. 1892 ‘Q.’ (Quiller Couch) Three Ships v. 87 A slice o' saffern-cake, crowder, to stay ye. Don't say no. |
| 1728 E. Smith Compl. Housew. 229 The *Saffron Cordial. |
| 1857 Henfrey Bot. §588 The *Saffron Crocus, C. sativus. |
| 1766 W. Gordon Gen. Counting-ho. 324, 10 hhds *saffron cut tobacco. |
| 1954 E. M. Wakefield Observer's Bk. Common Fungi 55 *Saffron Milk Cap..is recognisable by the orange milk which quickly turns green on exposure to the air. 1972 Times 23 Sept. 14/5 The..‘Saffron Milk Cap’ is harmless and eagerly sought. |
| 1593 Dee Diary (Camden) 45, I gave him a *saffron noble in ernest for a drinkpeny. |
| 1926 T. E. Lawrence Seven Pillars (1935) iii. xxxvii. 217 They took very long about the food and it was not till near noon that at last it came: a great bowl of *saffron-rice, with a broken lamb littered over it. 1973 R. Parkes Guardians ii. 42 Dan helped himself to another portion of saffron rice, annointed it with curry and tabasco. |
| c 1480 Henryson Test. Cress. 421 The swete meitis servit in plaittis clene, With *saipheron sals of an gude sessoun. |
| 1716 Petiveriana i. 276 *Saffron-tree, Celtis Amer. fol. Citri subtus aureo fructu rubro. |
| 1854 *Saffron-wood [see saffraan]. 1862 Chamb. Encycl. III. 801/1 The timber of Elæodendron croceum, called Saffron-wood at the Cape of Good Hope, is much used there in building and cabinet-making. |
B. adj. a. Resembling saffron in colour. In early use also,
† Coloured with saffron.
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 35 Cammomill..there is three kindes hereof. One which hath a Saffron flower. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. iv. 64 Did this Companion with the saffron face Reuell and feast it at my house to day. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 622/1 [The law] which putteth away saffron shirtes and smockes. 1632 Milton L'Allegro 126 There let Hymen oft appear In Saffron robe. 1697 Dryden æneid iv. 840 Aurora now had left her Saffron Bed. 1716 Gay Trivia ii. 384 Nor lazy Jaundice dulls your Saffron Eye. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxviii. 136 Array'd in bright broidery, saffron of hue. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xxvii, The clear saffron glory of the western sky. |
b. Special collocations:
saffron butterfly,
moth, collectors' names for certain lepidoptera having yellow wings;
† saffron pear, a variety of winter pear;
saffron plum, a West Indian and mainland sapotaceous tree (
Bumelia cuneata) having a yellow fruit.
| 1704 Petiver Gazophyl. ii. xiv, Papilio croceus, apicibus nigricantibus... The *Saffron Butterfly. 1829 J. F. Stephens Catal. Brit. Insects II. 3 Colias Edusa... Clouded yellow or Saffron B. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. Oct. 76 Lombart-pear, Russet-pear, *Saffron-pear. |
| 1884 Sargent Rep. Forests N. Amer. (10th Census IX.) 103 Bumelia cuneata... Ants' Wood. Downward Plum. *Saffron Plum. |
c. Comb., as
saffron-fruited,
saffron-mantled,
saffron robed,
adjs.| 1558 T. Phaer æneid vi. P iv b, But saffronfrutid [orig. 207 croceo fetu] bows the stubbes therof doth ouerspreede. 1791 Cowper Iliad viii. 1 The saffron-mantled morning [Ἠὼς κροκόπεπλος]. 1842–63 I. Williams Baptistery ii. xxviii. (1874) 141 Saffron-rob'd descending Charity. |
Hence
ˈsaffronic a. (
rare)
= saffrony a.
| 1949 E. Sitwell Canticle of Rose 245 Then the King who is part of the saffronic dust. |
▪ II. saffron, v. rare.
(
ˈsæfrən)
Also 5
saferon,
safroun.
[f. saffron n. Cf. F. safraner, med.L. saffranāre, It. zafferanare, Sp. azafranar.] trans. a. To season with saffron.
† Also
fig. b. To dye with saffron; also, to give a saffron-yellow colour to.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 17 And in Latyn I speke a wordes fewe, To saffron [MS. Bodl. 686 saferon] with my predicacion. c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 32 Safroun it wel. Ibid. 49 Safroun þin cofynn a-boue. 1593 Drayton Idea, Eglog ii. (1870) 6 The lothlie morpheu saffroned the place. 1622 T. Stoughton Chr. Sacrif. xii. 166 In Ireland..they saffron all their wearing linnen. 1833 Blackw. Mag. XXXIV. 540 She saffrons the hills, and azures the mountains, to delight him. |