- skip - Brewer’s

Sarʹacens

.

Ducange derives this word from Sarah (Abraham’s wife); Hottinger from the Arabic saraca (to steal); Forster from sahra (a desert); but probably it is the Arabic sharakyoun or sharkeyn (the eastern people), as opposed to Magʹharibë (the western peoplei.e. of Morocco). Any unbaptised person was called a Saracen in mediæval romance. (Greek, Suralkēnos.)

“So the Arabs, or Saracens, as they are called … gave men the choice of three things.”—E. A. Freeman: General Sketch, chap. vi. p. 117.

 

previous entry · index · next entry

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

previous entry · index · next entry

Sansfoy [Infidelity]
Sansjoy [Without the peace of God]
Sansloy [Irreligion]
Sansonetto (in Orlando Furioso)
Santa Casa (Italian, the holy house)
Santa Claus or Santa Klaus
Saophron
Sapphics
Sappho of Toulouse
Saracen Wheat (French, Blé-sar-rasin)
Saracens
Saragoza
Saraswati
Sarcasm
Sarcenet
Sarcenet Chidings
Sarcophagus
Sardanapalus
Sardinian Laugh
Sardonic Smile, Grin, or Laughter
Sardonyx

See Also:

Saracens