SAFFRON, saf'run, _n._ a bulbous plant of the crocus kind with deep-yellow
flowers: a colouring substance prepared from its flowers.--_adj._ having
the colour of saffron: deep yellow.--_adj._ SAFF'RONY.--_n._ SAF'RANINE, a
coal-tar producing yellowish colour used in dyeing. [O. Fr. _safran_ (It.
_zafferano_)--Ar. _za`far[=a]n_--_safr[=a]_, yellow.]
SAG, sag, _v.i._ to bend, sink, or hang down: to yield or give way as from
weight or pressure: to hang heavy: to make leeway.--_n._ a droop.--_adj._
loaded. [M. E. _saggen_, from Scand.; Sw. _sacka_, to sink down; cf. Ger.
_sacken_, to sink.]
SAGA, sä'ga, _n._ a tale, historical or fabulous, in the old prose
literature of Iceland.--_n._ SÄ'GAMAN, a narrator of sagas. [Ice. _saga_,
pl. _sögur_--_segja_, say.]
SAGACIOUS, sa-g[=a]'shus, _adj._ keen or quick in perception or thought:
acute: discerning and judicious: wise.--_adv._ SAG[=A]'CIOUSLY.--_ns._
SAG[=A]'CIOUSNESS, SAGAC'ITY, acuteness of perception or thought: acute
practical judgment: shrewdness. [L. _sagax_, _sagacis_--_sag[=i]re_, to
perceive quickly.]
SAGAMORE, sag'a-m[=o]r, _n._ a chief among some tribes of American
Indians--prob. conn. with _sachem_.
SAGAPENUM, sag-a-p[=e]'num, _n._ a fetid gum-resin, the concrete juice of a
Persian species of _Ferula_, formerly used in hysteria, &c. [Gr.
_sagap[=e]non_.]
SAGATHY, sag'a-thi, _n._ (_obs._) a woollen stuff. [Fr. _sagatis_--L.
_saga_, a mantle.]
SAGE, s[=a]j, _n._ any plant of genus _Salvia_, of the mint family, esp.
Common or Garden Sage, used for flavouring meats.--_ns._ SAGE'-APP'LE, a
gall formed on a species of sage; SAGE'-BREAD, bread baked from dough mixed
with a strong infusion of sage in milk; SAGE'-BRUSH, a collective name of
various shrubby species of Artemisia in the western United States;
SAGE'-COCK, -GROUSE, a large North American grouse; SAGE'-GREEN, a gray
slightly mixed with pure green; SAGE'-RABB'IT, a small hare or rabbit
abounding in North America; SAGE'-ROSE, a plant of the genus Cistus: an
evergreen shrub of tropical America; SAGE'-SPARR'OW, a fringilline bird
characteristic of the sage-brush of North America; SAGE'-THRESH'ER, the
mountain mocking-bird of west North America; SAGE'-WILL'OW, a dwarf
American willow.--_adj._ S[=A]'GY, full of, or seasoned with,
sage.--APPLE-BEARING SAGE, a native of southern Europe, with large reddish
or purple bracts, and bearing on its branches large gall-nuts; MEADOW SAGE,
or _Meadow clary_, a common ornament of meadows in the south of England,
with bluish-purple flowers; OIL OF SAGE, an essential oil, yielded by the
sage, once much used in liniments against rheumatism. [O. Fr. _sauge_ (It.
_salvia_)--L. _salvia_--_salvus_, safe.]
SAGE, s[=a]j, _adj._ discriminating, discerning, wise: well judged.--_n._ a
wise man: a man of gravity and wisdom.--_adv._ SAGE'LY.--_n._
SAGE'NESS.--SEVEN SAGES, or WISE MEN (see SEVEN). [Fr. _sage_ (It.
_saggio_, _savio_), from a L. _sapius_ (seen in _ne-sapius_),
wise--_sap[)e]re_, to be wise.]