n. & adj. hist.
--n.
1. an Arab or Muslim at the time of the Crusades.
2 a nomad of the Syrian and Arabian desert.
--adj. of the Saracens.
Phrases and idioms:
Saracen corn Brit. archaic buckwheat. Saracen's head the head of a Saracen or Turk as a heraldic charge or inn-sign.
Derivatives:
Saracenic adj.
Etymology: ME f. OF sar(r)azin, sar(r)acin f. LL Saracenus f. late Gk Sarakenos perh. f. Arab. sarki eastern