Saracenn.adj.
/ˈsarəsən/ A. n.† 2. † b. figurative. An ignorant and tasteless person, a ‘barbarian’, ‘Goth’, ‘Vandal’. Obsolete.† 3. The Saracen people or territory. Obsolete. [So Old French sarrazin.] Cf. Saracené n. at Derivatives.
1. † b. A Turk's head for tilting at. Obsolete.
a. Among the later Greeks and Romans, a name for the nomadic peoples of the Syro-Arabian desert which harassed the Syrian confines of the Empire; hence, an Arab; by extension, a Muslim, esp. with reference to the Crusades.
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the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > Semite > [noun] > Arab
Saracenc893
HagareneOE
Araba1382
Turka1400
Ismaelite1571
Ishmaelite1577
A-rab1865
Johnny1884
society > faith > sect > non-Christian religions > Islam > [noun] > person
Saracenc893
Mahomet1508
Mahometista1513
Mahometan1529
Turk1548
Mahomite1559
Mussulman1570
Ismaelite1571
Mahometician1588
Moor1588
Islam1613
Muslim1626
Mahometant1635
Mohammedan1663
Moorman1696
Unitarian1708
Islamite1786
Muslimin1819
Muslimite1840
Islamist1849
α.
β. ?a900 Malchus in Cockayne Shrine (1864) 42 Wit urnon..for sarcina hergunge.a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 153 Þat ȝere Sarzyns com out of Egipt into Affrica.c1390 (?c1350) Joseph of Arimathie (1871) l. 55 Þei ferden to A Cite faste bi-syde, þat was called sarras þer sarsyns sprongen, Erest þorw Abrahames wyf þat wonede þer-inne.a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11072 His [sc. St. John Baptist's] fest it es in somers time, it halus bath Iu and sarȝine.a1529 J. Skelton Poems against Garnesche in Poet Wks. (1843) I. 117 I sey, ye solem Sarson, alle blake ys your ble.1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 265/1 Sarsyn a man.c893 tr. Orosius Hist. i. i. 12 Monege þeoda..þæt is, Comagena & Fenitia..Iudea, & Palestina, & Sarracene [L. absque Saracenis].
a950 in J. Stevenson Rituale Ecclesiæ Dunelmensis (1840) 196 On india saracena [L. in India Saracenorum].
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 293 Peple þat cleped hem self Saracenys, as þogh þey were i-come of Sarra.
1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis I. 363 To passe over the grete See To werre and sle the Sarazin.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 16 How charles kyng and rauland faght, Wit sarazins wald þai na saght.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 99 He is lijk to the lawe of Macomet and of Sarezenis.
c1475 Partenay 309 Lesse worth am I then any sarysyne, Whiche is in beleue of sory mahound!
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. aiiij He hath quite dryuen out of Spayne the Moores or Sarasens.
1590 J. Smythe Certain Disc. Weapons 33 That braue Saladin, Souldan of Egipt, with his notable milicia of Mamelucks (by many called Sarasins).
1602 N. Breton Wonders worth Hearing (Grosart) 7/2 Standing..with a Sarazins face, his nose too long for his lips, his cheekes like the iawes of a horse [etc.].
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iv. 161 The Sarazens are descended of Esau.
1788 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall V. l. 181 From Mecca to the Euphrates, the Arabian tribes were confounded by the Greeks and Latins, under the general appellation of Saracens.
1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold I. i. iv. 60 Here..might be seen the swarthy Saracen, with wares from Spain and Afric.
1905 19th Cent. Aug. 268 The African hordes, generically termed Saracens, who were established near Villefranche as late as the early part of the tenth century.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > fighting sports > jousting or tilting > [noun] > equipment
spear of peacea1400
timberc1400
tilting-staff1602
Saracen1637
tilt-staff1651
tilting armour1819
tilting-helmet1846
tilting-lance1863
tilting spear-
1637 Earl of Monmouth tr. V. Malvezzi Romulus & Tarquin 231 Who passionately run their lances against a Saracin of wood.
1652 T. Urquhart Εκσκυβαλαυρον 103 He carryed away the Ring fifteen times on end, and broke as many Lances on the Saracen.
1656 R. Flecknoe Ten Years Trav. x. 26 A solemn Justing or Running at Ring and Sarazen.
a. A non-Christian, heathen, or pagan; an unbeliever, infidel. Obsolete.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > theism > paganism > [noun] > person
heathenc1000
Saracenc1250
payenc1275
paynimc1300
wanbody1303
payemec1330
idolaterc1380
gentilea1382
idolasterc1386
miscreantc1400
mammeter?a1425
paganc1440
infidel1470
ethnic?a1475
image server1531
serve-image1531
heathenista1556
image-worshipper1563
Kaffir1577
giaour1589
Baalista1603
idolant1605
idolatress1613
idolist1614
idololatera1641
iconolater1654
Baalite1656
iconodulist1716
irreligionista1779
neopagan1868
iconodule1893
witch1958
c1250 Meid. Maregrete ix. 35 Sone wolde þe sarezin habben hire to wiue.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 4522 Eiȝte hundred ssipes in to þis londe he broȝte Vol of saracens [MS. δ of Saxons fulle].
a1300 K. Horn 42 (Cambr.) He fond bi þe stronde,..Schipes fiftene, Wiþ sarazins kene.
c1330 Arth. & Merl. 2067 Danmark Sarrazins Þat were of Angys lins.
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xi. 151 Nouȝt þorw preyere of a pope..Was þat sarasene [sc. Emperor Trajan] saued.
1433 J. Lydgate Edmund & Fremund ii. 381 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 403 Edmond that day was Cristis champioun,..Among sarseynes he pleied the lioun.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xiii. 193 That day Gawein slowgh many a sarazin of the saxouns more than eny of his felowes.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. giii That they shall loue, as the chylde his parentes and the pagane or Saraȝin his false goddes.
1552 Abp. J. Hamilton Catech. i. viii. f. 22 Yu art made as ane Pagan, Saracene or Infidele.
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the mind > attention and judgement > bad taste > [noun] > philistinism > Philistine
Goth1663
Saracen1723
Visigoth1749
barbarian1757
Philistine1825
Babbitt1921
no-brow1926
bourgeois1930
1723 B. Mandeville Fable Bees (ed. 2) i. 331 Methinks I hear them..ask what Brute of a Saracen it is that draws his ugly Weapon for the Destruction of Learning.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > theism > paganism > [noun] > person > plural and collective
heathenessec900
heathenc1000
paynimc1275
Barbarya1300
Saracen1303
payenyc1330
nationsa1382
paynimryc1384
ginga1400
heathenheada1400
payemy?a1400
paynimy1481
paganyc1515
gentility1546
paganism1605
gentilisma1638
pagandom1691
heathendom1860
heathenrya1890
1303 R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne 185 Here fadyr was prest of sarysyne [Fr. paenete].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 22286 Ouer Iubiter and apoline, þat godds war o sarazine.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 6984 Þai..lefte þe lagh of hei drightin, And ledd þe law of sarazin.
B. adj. † b. Cookery. In browet Saracen, sauce Saracen. Obsolete.
a. = Saracenic adj. (By Sir C. Wren erroneously applied to Pointed or ‘Gothic’ architecture.)
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society > faith > sect > non-Christian religions > Islam > [adjective]
circumcisa1325
Saracena1400
Mahometical1561
Mahometish1578
Mahometic1585
Mahometized1585
Mussulmanlike1589
turbaned1591
Mahometan1600
Ismaelitish1604
Saracenican1607
Ismaelitical1613
Moorish1613
Saracenical1613
Mahometanical1614
circumciseda1616
Mussulman1616
Mahounda1625
Muslim1626
Mussulmanish1638
Saracenic1638
Mohammedan1681
Sarazantic1726
Islamic1791
Islamitic1791
Islamite1800
Islamitish1801
Mussulmanic1801
Saracenian1818
Islamistic1828
Muslimite1829
Muslimin1844
Islamist1853
Ismaelitic1884
Muslimic1903
the world > people > ethnicities > division of mankind by physical characteristics > Semite > [adjective] > Arab
Sarsenisha1366
Saracena1400
Arabianc1400
Arab?1520
Saracenican1607
Hagarene1610
Saracenical1613
Saracenic1638
Ishmaelitish1687
Saracenian1818
A-rab1894
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > style of architecture > [adjective] > Moorish
Moorish1434
Moresque1611
Saracen1713
Saracenic1768
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4247 For men war þar o sarzin lede.
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlv. l. 721 Whiche were to holden the better lay, whethir the Cristene lawe, Oþer Sarazine.
1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 38 Iason dide do sowne trompettis, tabours, and cornes sarasins.
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria xxxii. f. 279 Let vs daunce the haye, shypmens, sarson, and maurys daunce. Saltemus geranion.
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 86 Syria..was with the first subdued to Saracene servitude.
1713 C. Wren in Parentalia (1750) 297 This we now call the Gothick Manner of Architecture... I think it should with more Reason be called the Saracen Style.
1818 H. H. Milman Samor vii. 207 When mad Orlando met On that frail bridge the giant Sarzan king.
1842 Catal. Classic Contents Strawberry Hill 162 A magnificent table of Saracen mosaic.
1862 W. H. Jervis Hist. France (1872) v. 67 The Saracen governor of Saragossa.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > other prepared foods or dishes > [noun]
mawmenny1381
browet Saracen?c1390
corat?c1390
lete lardes?c1390
lete lory?c1390
burseuc1400
lorey14..
Jack of Doverc1405
bukenadea1425
nesebeka1425
mosy?c1425
blaundsore1430
fauntemperec1430
irchinc1430
white sorréc1430
entraila1450
pasteladea1450
prenadec1450
fignadea1475
frianc1500
profiterole?1521
slampamp1593
flap-dragon1604
eel-cake1653
Lombard1657
hedgehog1723
bird's nest1769
dope18..
negro-pota1818
jug jug1877
King Henry's shoestrings1887
foam-omelet1892
crème1901
farofa1922
chilaquiles1938
metagee1957
Kiev1967
pani puri1969
?c1390 Form of Cury (1780) 44 Sawse Sarzyne. Take heppes and make hem clene, take Almaundes blaunched.
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 19 Bruette Sareson.
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 30 Sauke Sarsoun. Take Almoundys, & blaunche hem.
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 113 Saug saraser [so printed]. Tak Almandes, frye hem in oille.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
Saracen-like adj.
ΚΠ
a1704 T. Brown Lett. to Gentlemen & Ladies in 3rd Vol. Wks. (1708) ii. 124 His Eye-brows are..somewhat Saracen-like.
C2. † Saracen's all-heal n. Obsolete† Saracen's birth-wort n. Obsolete = sarazine n.† Saracen's comfrey n. Obsolete† Saracen's earth n. Obsolete ? Lemnian earth.† Saracen's mint n. Obsolete = sarazine n.† Saracen's soap n. Obsolete a mixture of soap-lye and olive-oil.† Saracen's woundwort n. Obsolete = Saracen's consound n.
Saracen corn n. buckwheat (see sarrasin n.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > wheat > types of wheat grain or plant
spelta1000
farc1420
ador?1440
flaxen wheat?1523
Peak-wheat?1523
red wheat?1523
white wheat?1523
duck-bill wheat1553
zea1562
alica1565
buck1577
amelcorn1578
horse-flower1578
tiphe1578
pollard1580
rivet1580
Saracen's corn1585
French wheat1593
Lammas-wheat1594
starch corn1597
St. Peter's corn1597
frumenty1600
secourgeon1600
polwheat1601
duck-wheat1611
kidneys of wheat1611
ograve wheat1616
soft wheat1640
cone-wheat1677
Lammas1677
Poland wheat1686
Saracen corn1687
pole rivet1707
Smyrna wheat1735
hard wheat1757
hen corn1765
velvet wheat1771
white straw1771
nonpareil1805
thick-set wheat1808
cone1826
farro1828
Polish wheat1832
velvet-ear wheat1837
sarrasin1840
mummy wheat1842
snowdrop1844
Red Fife1857
flint-wheat1859
dinkel1866
thick-set1875
spring1884
macaroni wheat1901
einkorn1904
marquis1906
durum1908
emmer1908
hedgehog wheat1909
speltoid1939
1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 46 We saw a Field sowed with Maez or Sarazin Corn.
1882 R. Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 4) ii. iii. 632 The fruits of F. esculentum,..Common Buckwheat or Saracen Corn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > Saracen's comfrey
Saracen's comfrey1578
Saracen's consound1597
Saracen's woundwort1597
Saracenican groundsel1786
Saracen's all-heal1786
1786 J. Abercrombie Arrangem. Plants 67/1 in Gardeners Daily Assistant Saracenican helvetian groundsel, called Saracen's all-heal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > birthwort > [noun]
Aristolochiaa1398
astrologiaa1425
round aristolochia?a1425
Saracen's mint1526
sarazine1526
heartwort1548
round heartwort1548
birthwort1551
round birthwort1551
Saracen's herb1585
Saracen's birth-wort1597
clematite1712
swan-plant1841
serpent-withe1864
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 696 The later writers haue ioined vnto them a fift named Saracens Birthwoort.
ΚΠ
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 347 Saracenes Consounde is called in Latine Solidago Saracenica, or Saracens Comfrey.
† †Saracen's consound n. Obsolete Senecio saracenicus, said to have been used by the Saracens in healing wounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > Saracen's comfrey
Saracen's comfrey1578
Saracen's consound1597
Saracen's woundwort1597
Saracenican groundsel1786
Saracen's all-heal1786
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 347 Saracenes Consounde is called in Latine Solidago Saracenica, or Saracens Comfrey,..in English Saracens Consound, and Saracenes Woundwoort.
Saracen's corn n. Sorghum vulgare; also = Saracen corn n. or buckwheat, Fagopyrum esculentum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > wheat > types of wheat grain or plant
spelta1000
farc1420
ador?1440
flaxen wheat?1523
Peak-wheat?1523
red wheat?1523
white wheat?1523
duck-bill wheat1553
zea1562
alica1565
buck1577
amelcorn1578
horse-flower1578
tiphe1578
pollard1580
rivet1580
Saracen's corn1585
French wheat1593
Lammas-wheat1594
starch corn1597
St. Peter's corn1597
frumenty1600
secourgeon1600
polwheat1601
duck-wheat1611
kidneys of wheat1611
ograve wheat1616
soft wheat1640
cone-wheat1677
Lammas1677
Poland wheat1686
Saracen corn1687
pole rivet1707
Smyrna wheat1735
hard wheat1757
hen corn1765
velvet wheat1771
white straw1771
nonpareil1805
thick-set wheat1808
cone1826
farro1828
Polish wheat1832
velvet-ear wheat1837
sarrasin1840
mummy wheat1842
snowdrop1844
Red Fife1857
flint-wheat1859
dinkel1866
thick-set1875
spring1884
macaroni wheat1901
einkorn1904
marquis1906
durum1908
emmer1908
hedgehog wheat1909
speltoid1939
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > cereal, corn, or grain > [noun] > millet > Indian millet > Indian millet plant or panicle
millc1450
millet1548
Saracen's corn1585
sorghum1597
Guinea corn1697
whisk1757
broom-straw1785
kaffir corn1785
jowari1800
jowar1801
chicken corna1817
broom corn1819
mabela1824
cholum1858
Texas millet1858
dura1882
pearl millet1887
kaoliang1904
proso1907
milo1920
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 109/2 Milium Indicum.., Indian millet: Turkishe wheate, or Sarracens corne.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique i. xi. 53 Let her cause to be ground amongst her corne, beanes, pease, fetches or sarrasins corne in some small quantitie.
1804 M. Wilmot Jrnl. 12 Aug. in M. Wilmot & C. Wilmot Russ. Jrnls. (1934) i. 123 So many different sorts of Corn..the Sarazens' Corn so white, the flax with its blue flowers, the peas so green.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > oxides and hydroxides > native earths > [noun] > sphragide
terra sigillata1398
Saracen's earth1526
Terra Lemnia1613
sigillated earth1657
sphragid1828
1526 Grete Herball ccccxliv. sig. Zv/1 Terra sigillata is otherwyse called sarazyns erthe or syluered clay.
Saracen's head n. the head of a Saracen, Arab, or Turk used (a) as a charge in heraldry, (b) as an inn sign, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > drinking > drinking place > [noun] > tavern or public house > tavern sign
lion?a1366
ale stake1396
ivy14..
sunc1400
tokenc1440
eagle1449
chequerc1460
wisp?1507
Saracen's head1510
ale-pole1523
bush1532
wine garland1533
ivy-garland1553
tavern-bush1553
lattice1575
ivy-bush1576
alebush1599
red lattice1604
elephanta1616
sagittarya1616
grate1622
wine-bush1638
popinjay1687
society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > representations of human or divine beings > [noun] > Turk's head
Saracen's head1510
Morian headc1530
Moor's head1673
1510 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 108 Unius mesuagii nuncupati ‘le Sarezon' Hed’.
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie (1611) iii. xxv. 174 Hee beareth Gules, a Saracens Head Errased at the Neck, Argent.
1838 Penny Cycl. XII. 142/2 Many of these [charges], such as crosses,..Saracens' heads, &c., were assumed during the Crusades.
1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby iv. 23 The coach-yard of the Saracen's-Head Inn.
Saracen's herb n. = sarazine n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > birthwort > [noun]
Aristolochiaa1398
astrologiaa1425
round aristolochia?a1425
Saracen's mint1526
sarazine1526
heartwort1548
round heartwort1548
birthwort1551
round birthwort1551
Saracen's herb1585
Saracen's birth-wort1597
clematite1712
swan-plant1841
serpent-withe1864
1585 J. Higgins tr. Junius Nomenclator 116/2 Aristolochia sarmentitia..nonnullis herba Saracenica.., Sarracens herb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > birthwort > [noun]
Aristolochiaa1398
astrologiaa1425
round aristolochia?a1425
Saracen's mint1526
sarazine1526
heartwort1548
round heartwort1548
birthwort1551
round birthwort1551
Saracen's herb1585
Saracen's birth-wort1597
clematite1712
swan-plant1841
serpent-withe1864
1526 Grete Herball cclxxiv. sig. Pv/1 It is called mynte romayne, or sarazyns mynt.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > extracted or refined oil > [noun] > oil mixtures
Saracen's soap1526
oil gold-size1874
grey oil1887
1526 Grete Herball cccxcviii. sig. Xvj/2 Sarazyns sope is made of a lye called capitellium and oyle olyue syden together tyll it be thycke.
Saracen's stone n. = sarsen n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [noun] > a rock > boulder > types of
whinstonea1585
Saracen's stone1644
grey wethers1660
sarsena1697
grey goose1816
Moeraki boulder1879
1644 R. Symonds Diary (1859) 151 A place so full of a grey pibble stone of great bignes as is not usually seene.., the inhabaitants calling them Saracens' stones.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular medicinal plants or parts > [noun] > Saracen's comfrey
Saracen's comfrey1578
Saracen's consound1597
Saracen's woundwort1597
Saracenican groundsel1786
Saracen's all-heal1786
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 347 Saracenes Consounde is called in Latine Solidago Saracenica, or Saracens Comfrey,..in English Saracens Consound, and Saracenes Woundwoort.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 326 The true Saracen's Wound-wort Senecio.
Derivatives
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Africa > [noun] > North Africa > Saracen lands
Saracenéa1450
Barbary1600
a1450 (c1410) H. Lovelich Hist. Holy Grail xlv. l. 724 A gret Semble Of Alle the Maistres Of Sarrasene.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1909; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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n.adj.c893