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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

saffron.

A plant of species Crocus sativus, a crocus.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈsæfɹən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsæfɹɒn/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsæfɹən/General-American/ˈsæfɹɑn/General-American
  1. A plant of species Crocus sativus, a crocus.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A spice (seasoning) and colouring agent made from the stigma and part of the style of the plant, sometimes or formerly also used as a dye and insect repellent.

    countable · uncountable
  3. An orange-yellow colour, the colour of a lion's pelt.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Aramaic צפרder. Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān)bor. Medieval Latin safranumbor. Old French safranbor. Middle English saffron English saffron Inherited from Middle English saffron, borrowed from Old French safran, borrowed from Medieval Latin safranum, borrowed from Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān), from Aramaic צפר.

adj/ˈsæfɹən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsæfɹɒn/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsæfɹən/General-American/ˈsæfɹɑn/General-American
  1. Having an orange-yellow colour.

  2. Associated with Hinduism, Hindus or Hindu nationalism.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Aramaic צפרder. Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān)bor. Medieval Latin safranumbor. Old French safranbor. Middle English saffron English saffron Inherited from Middle English saffron, borrowed from Old French safran, borrowed from Medieval Latin safranum, borrowed from Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān), from Aramaic צפר.

verb/ˈsæfɹən/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsæfɹɒn/Received-Pronunciation/ˈsæfɹən/General-American/ˈsæfɹɑn/General-American
  1. To add saffron to (a food), for taste, colour etc.

    saffroned water, saffroned rice
  2. To give a saffron colour to (something).

  3. To give a saffron colour to (something). To dye (a fabric, garment, etc.) with a saffron-based dye.

  4. To give a saffron colour to (something). To colour (a metal or wooden surface) with a gilding product containing saffron.

  5. To embellish.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Aramaic צפרder. Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān)bor. Medieval Latin safranumbor. Old French safranbor. Middle English saffron English saffron Inherited from Middle English saffron, borrowed from Old French safran, borrowed from Medieval Latin safranum, borrowed from Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān), from Aramaic צפר.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.