saffron

C2 Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈsæfɹən/ UK /ˈsæfrən/ See IPA manual

Freq #20855

Meanings

1

noun
a costly yellow-orange spice made from the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus

She added a small pinch of saffron to the rice.
2

noun
the purple-flowered crocus Crocus sativus, cultivated for the stigmas used as a spice and dye

Each saffron flower produces only three harvestable stigmas.
3

noun
a deep yellow color tinged with orange

The setting sun turned the clouds a rich saffron.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a costly yellow-orange... saffron spice

2 noun · the purple-flowered crocus... saffron crocusCrocus sativus

3 noun · a deep yellow color tinged... orange-yellowgolden yellow

Word family

Derived forms saffronizationsaffronizesaffronlikesaffrony

Related forms crocusturmericsafflowerspice dye

Common collocations

saffron crocus Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English saffron and Old French safran, through Medieval Latin safranum from Arabic za'faran. The Arabic word may ultimately have an Aramaic source. The name passed with the traded spice and later also named its distinctive yellow-orange color.

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# saffron

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈsæfɹən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsæfrən/
**Frequency rank:** 20855

## Meanings
1. a costly yellow-orange spice made from the dried stigmas of the saffron crocus
2. the purple-flowered crocus Crocus sativus, cultivated for the stigmas used as a spice and dye
3. a deep yellow color tinged with orange

## Examples
- She added a small pinch of saffron to the rice.
- Each saffron flower produces only three harvestable stigmas.
- The setting sun turned the clouds a rich saffron.

## Synonyms
- saffron spice
- saffron crocus
- orange-yellow

## Derived Forms
- saffronization
- saffronize
- saffronlike
- saffrony

## Related Forms
- crocus
- turmeric
- safflower
- spice
- dye

## Etymology
From Middle English saffron and Old French safran, through Medieval Latin safranum from Arabic za'faran. The Arabic word may ultimately have an Aramaic source. The name passed with the traded spice and later also named its distinctive yellow-orange color.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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