■ noun
1》 an orange-yellow spice used for flavouring and colouring food, made from the dried stigmas of a crocus.
2》 (also ~ crocus ) an autumn-flowering crocus with reddish-purple flowers that yields this spice. [ Crocus sativus .]
Derivatives
~y adjective
Origin
ME: from OFr. safran , based on Arab. za῾farān .