Saffron - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Saffron :  (noun)
1: Old World crocus having purple or white flowers with aromatic pungent orange stigmas used in flavoring food [syn: saffron crocus, Crocus sativus]
2: dried pungent stigmas of the Old World saffron crocus
3: a shade of yellow tinged with orange [syn: orange yellow]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Saffron : \Saf"fron\ (?; 277), a. Having the color of the stigmas of saffron flowers; deep orange-yellow; as, a saffron face; a saffron streamer.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Saffron : \Saf"fron\ (?; 277), n. [OE. saffran, F. safran; cf. It. zafferano, Sp. azafran, Pg. a[,c]afr[~a]o; all fr. Ar. & Per. za' far[=a]n.] 1. (Bot.) A bulbous iridaceous plant ({Crocus sativus) having blue flowers with large yellow stigmas. See Crocus.

2. The aromatic, pungent, dried stigmas, usually with part of the stile, of the Crocus sativus. Saffron is used in cookery, and in coloring confectionery, liquors, varnishes, etc., and was formerly much used in medicine.

3. An orange or deep yellow color, like that of the stigmas of the Crocus sativus.

Bastard saffron, Dyer's saffron. (Bot.) See Safflower. Meadow saffron (Bot.), a bulbous plant ({Colchichum autumnale) of Europe, resembling saffron.

Saffron wood (Bot.), the yellowish wood of a South African tree ({El[ae]odendron croceum); also, the tree itself.

Saffron yellow, a shade of yellow like that obtained from the stigmas of the true saffron ({Crocus sativus).

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Saffron : \Saf"fron\, v. t. To give color and flavor to, as by means of saffron; to spice. [Obs.]

And in Latyn I speak a wordes few, To saffron with my predication. --Chaucer.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Saffron :  Heb. karkom, Arab. zafran (i.e., "yellow"), mentioned only in Cant. 4:13, 14; the Crocus sativus. Many species of the crocus are found in Palestine. The pistils and stigmata, from the centre of its flowers, are pressed into "saffron cakes," common in the East. "We found," says Tristram, "saffron a very useful condiment in travelling cookery, a very small pinch of it giving not only a rich yellow colour but an agreable flavour to a dish of rice or to an insipid stew."



Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Copyright 2009 wordIQ.com - Privacy Policy  :: Terms of Use  :: Contact Us  :: About Us