Hebrews karkom, Arab. zafran (i.e., "yellow"), mentioned only in Cant. 4:13, 14; the Crocus sativus. Many species of the crocus are found in Palestine. The pistils and stigmata, from the centre of its flowers, are pressed into "saffron cakes," common in the East. "We found," says Tristram, "saffron a very useful condiment in travelling cookery, a very small pinch of it giving not only a rich yellow colour but an agreable flavour to a dish of rice or to an insipid stew."

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) A bulbous iridaceous plant (Crocus sativus) having blue flowers with large yellow stigmas. See Crocus.

2. (n.) The aromatic, pungent, dried stigmas, usually with part of the stile, of the Crocus sativus. Saffron is used in cookery, and in coloring confectionery, liquors, varnishes, etc., and was formerly much used in medicine.

3. (n.) An orange or deep yellow color, like that of the stigmas of the Crocus sativus.

4. (a.) Having the color of the stigmas of saffron flowers; deep orange-yellow; as, a saffron face; a saffron streamer.

5. (v. t.) To give color and flavor to, as by means of saffron; to spice.