Saffron

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( v. t.) To give color and flavor to, as by means of saffron; to spice.

(2): ( a.) Having the color of the stigmas of saffron flowers; deep orange-yellow; as, a saffron face; a saffron streamer.

(3): ( n.) A bulbous iridaceous plant (Crocus sativus) having blue flowers with large yellow stigmas. See Crocus.

(4): ( n.) 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.

(5): ( n.) An orange or deep yellow color, like that of the stigmas of the Crocus sativus.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Saffron. (Yellow).  Song of Solomon 4:14. Saffron has, from the earliest times, been in high esteem as a perfume. "It was used," says Rosenmuller, "for the same purposes as the modern pot-pourri." The word saffron is derived from the Arabic zafran , "Yellow". (The saffron, ( Crocus sativus ), is a kind of crocus of the iris family. It is used its a medicine, as a flavoring, and as a yellow dye. Homer, Virgil and Milton refer to its beauty in the landscape. It abounds in Palestine. The name, saffron, is usually applied only to the stigmas and part of the style, which are plucked out and dried. - Editor).

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

SAFFRON (  Song of Solomon 4:14 ). The Heb. karkôm is identical with the Arab [Note: Arabic.] , kurkum or za’farân ) (whence is derived the Eng. ‘saffron’), the name of a variety of crocus ( Crocus sativus ), of which the yellow styles and stigmas are used for dyeing and for flavouring food. A similar dye, also called saffron, is more commonly derived from the florets of the Carthamus tinctorius ( CompositÅ“ ) cultivated everywhere in Palestine for this purpose.

E. W. G. Masterman.

King James Dictionary

SAF'FRON, n. The radical sense is to fail, or to be hollow, or to be exhausted.

1. A plant of the genus Crocus. The bastard saffron is of the genus Carthamus, and the meadow saffron of the genus Colchicum. 2. In the materia medica, saffron is formed of the stigmata of the Crocus officinalis, dried on a kiln and pressed into cakes.

SAF'FRON, a. Having the color of saffron flowers yellow as a saffron face a saffron streamer.

SAF'FRON, To tinge with saffron to make yellow to gild.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Of the Iris order. The stigma and upper portion of the style, taken from the flower's center and dried, is the saffron of commerce. Esteemed anciently for its fragrance, also as a dye. "Saffron vested" is Homer's epithet for morning. Also a medicine. Hebrew Carcom , Latin Crocus ( Song of Solomon 4:14). Saffron is derived from Arabic Zafran , "yellow." Saffron Walden in Essex is named from the saffron.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The common Crocus Sativus, a small bluish flower, whose yellow, thread-like stigmata yield an agreeable aromatic odor; and also the Indian saffron, Song of  Song of Solomon 4:14 . In the East these were used in making a highly valued perfume, and also as a condiment and a stimulating medicine.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

A common odoriferous plant. The Hebrew karkom agrees with the Arabic karkum and points to the Crocus sativus, or saffron crocus.  Song of Solomon 4:14 . In the East it is pressed into small cakes and sold in the bazaars.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Song of Solomon 4:13,14

Holman Bible Dictionary

Spices

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Saffron occurs only once in the Old Testament, viz. in , where it is mentioned along with several fragrant and stimulant substances, such as spikenard, calamus, and cinnamon, trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes; we may, therefore, suppose that it was some substance possessed of similar properties. Saffron has from the earliest times been cultivated in Asiatic countries, as it still is in Persia and Cashmere. Dioscorides describes the different kinds of it, and Pliny states that the benches of the public theaters were strewn with saffron: indeed 'the ancients frequently made use of this flower in perfumes. Not only saloons, theaters, and places which were to be filled with a pleasant fragrance were strewed with this substance, but all sorts of vinous tinctures retaining the scent were made of it, and this costly perfume was poured into small fountains, which diffused the odor that was so highly esteemed. Even fruit and comfitures placed before guests and the ornaments of the rooms were spread over with it. It was used for the same purpose as the modern potpourri.' In the present day a very high price is given in India for saffron imported from Cashmere; native dishes are often colored and flavored with it, and it is in high esteem as a stimulant medicine.

The name saffron, as usually applied, does not denote the whole plant, nor even the whole flower of crocus sativus, but only the stigmas, with part of the style, which, being plucked out, are carefully dried. These, when prepared, are dry, narrow, thread-like, and twisted together, of an orange-yellow color, having a peculiar aromatic and penetrating odor, with a bitterish and somewhat aromatic taste, tinging the mouth and saliva of a yellow color. Sometimes the stigmas are prepared by being submitted to pressure, and thus made into what is called cake saffron, a form in which it is still imported from Persia into India. Hay saffron is obtained in this country chiefly from France and Spain, though it is also sometimes prepared from the native crocus cultivated for this purpose. Saffron was formerly highly esteemed as a stimulant medicine, and still enjoys high repute in Eastern countries, both as a medicine and as a condiment.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

saf´run ( כּרכּם , karkōm  ; κρόκος , krókos ): Identical with the Arabic kurḳum , the same as za‛farān , "saffron." The source of the true saffron is Crocus sativus (Natural Order, Indaceae ), a plant cultivated in Palestine; there are 8 wild varieties in all of which, as in the cultivated species, the orange-colored styles and stigmas yield the yellow dye, saffron.   Song of Solomon 4:14 probably refers to the C. sativus . There is a kind of bastard saffron plant, the Carthamus tinctorius (Natural Order, Compositae ), of which the orange-colored flowers yield a dye like saffron.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Saffron'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/s/saffron.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.