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Saracen - 4 dictionary results
Sar⋅a⋅cen
[sar-uh-suh
n] 
–noun
| 1. | History/Historical. a member of any of the nomadic tribes on the Syrian borders of the Roman Empire. |
| 2. | (in later use) an Arab. |
| 3. | a Muslim, esp. in the period of the Crusades. |
–adjective
| 4. | Also, Sar⋅a⋅cen⋅ic [sar-uh-sen-ik] , Sar⋅a⋅cen⋅i⋅cal. of or pertaining to the Saracens. |
Origin:
bef. 900; ME, OE < ML Saracēnus < LGk Sarakēnós
bef. 900; ME, OE < ML Saracēnus < LGk Sarakēnós
Related forms:
Sar⋅a⋅cen⋅ism, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To Saracen
| Sar·a·cen (sār'ə-sən) n.
[Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin Saracēnus, from Late Greek Sarakēnos, ultimately from Arabic šarq, east, sunrise; see śrq in Semitic roots.] Sar'a·cen'ic (-sěn'ĭk) adj. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Saracen
Sar"a*cen\, n. [L. Saracenus perhaps fr. Ar. sharqi, pl. sharqi[=i]n, Oriental, Eastern, fr. sharaqa to rise, said of the sun: cf. F. sarrasin. Cf. Sarcenet, Sarrasin, Sirocco.] Anciently, an Arab; later, a Mussulman; in the Middle Ages, the common term among Christians in Europe for a Mohammedan hostile to the crusaders. Saracens' consound (Bot.), a kind of ragwort (Senecio Saracenicus), anciently used to heal wounds.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Saracen
O.E., "an Arab" (in Gk. and Roman translations), also, c.1250, generally, "non-Christian, heathen, pagan," from O.Fr. saracin, from L.L. saracenus, from Gk. sarakenos, usually said to be from Arabic Sharquiyin, pl. acc. of sharqiy "eastern," from sharq "east, sunrise," but this is not certain. In Medieval times the name was associated with that of Biblical Sarah (q.v.).
"Peple þat cleped hem self Saracenys, as þogh þey were i-come of Sarra" [John of Trevisa, transl. Higdon's Polychronicon, 1387]The name Greeks and Romans gave to the nomads of the Syrian and Arabian deserts. Specific sense of "Middle Eastern Muslim" is from the Crusades.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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