'Saffron' definitions:
Definition of 'saffron'
(from WordNet)
noun
Old World crocus having purple or white flowers with aromatic pungent orange stigmas used in flavoring food [syn: saffron, saffron crocus, Crocus sativus]
noun
Dried pungent stigmas of the Old World saffron crocus
noun
A shade of yellow tinged with orange [syn: orange yellow, saffron]
Definition of 'Saffron'
From: GCIDE
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- 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. [1913 Webster]
- 3. An orange or deep yellow color, like that of the stigmas of the Crocus sativus. [1913 Webster]
- 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 (Elaeodendron croceum); also, the tree itself.
- Saffron yellow, a shade of yellow like that obtained from the stigmas of the true saffron (Crocus sativus). [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Saffron'
From: GCIDE
- Saffron \Saf"fron\ (?; 277), a. Having the color of the stigmas of saffron flowers; deep orange-yellow; as, a saffron face; a saffron streamer. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Saffron'
From: GCIDE
- Saffron \Saf"fron\, v. t. To give color and flavor to, as by means of saffron; to spice. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- And in Latyn I speak a wordes few, To saffron with my predication. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'saffron'
From: 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."