Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SAF'FRON, n. [W. safrwn, safyr; Fr. safran; Arm. zafron; It. zafferano; Sp. azafran; Port. açafram; D. saffraan; G. Sw. and Dan. saffran; Turk. zafrani; Ar. صَفرَ safra, to be yellow, to be empty; the root of cipher. The radical sense then is to fail, or to be hollow, or to be exhausted.]

1. A plant of the genus Crocus. The bastard saffron is of the genus Carthamus, and the meadow saffron of the genus Colchicum.
2. In the material media, saffron is formed of the stigmata of the Crocus officinalis, dried on a kiln and pressed into cakes. – Encyc.