azafrán

Asturian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Aramaic צפרder.

Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān)

Andalusian Arabic زعفرانbor.

Asturian azafrán

Borrowed from Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān, “saffron”), via Andalusian Arabic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aθaˈfɾan/ [a.θaˈfɾãŋ]
• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: a‧za‧frán

Noun

azafrán m (plural azafranes)

1. saffron (plant)
2. saffron (spice)

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Aramaic צפרder.

Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān)

Andalusian Arabic زعفرانbor.

Old Spanish açafran

Spanish azafrán

Inherited from Old Spanish açafran, from Arabic زَعْفَرَان (zaʕfarān, “saffron”), via Andalusian Arabic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aθaˈfɾan/ [a.θaˈfɾãn] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /asaˈfɾan/ [a.saˈfɾãn] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: a‧za‧frán

Noun

azafrán m (plural azafranes)

1. saffron crocus (Crocus sativus)
2. (spices) saffron
3. (dyes) saffron
4. (Philippines) turmeric (Curcuma longa)
   • 1879, José Felipe del Pan, Diccionario de la administración, del Comercio y de la vida práctica en Filipinas, page 150:

     AZAFRÁN. Curcuma longa. Planta con la que los indios tiñen de amarillo que no es muy firme. Su raíz cruda la comen los que adolecen de jaqueca, y les aprovecha.

     TURMERIC. Curcuma longa. Plant with which the Indians use as yellow dye that is not firm. Its raw root is eaten by those who suffer from headaches, and they take advantage of it.

Derived terms

• azafrán bastardo
• azafranar (verb)
• chirigüe azafrán

Descendants

• → Tagalog: asapran

See also

• azafrán on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es

Further reading

• “azafrán”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025