Hypertext Webster Gateway: "saffron"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
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."
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Saffron \Saf"fron\ (?; 277), a.
Having the color of the stigmas of saffron flowers; deep
orange-yellow; as, a saffron face; a saffron streamer.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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}).
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
saffron
n 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}]
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