Sar"a*cen (?), n. [l. Saracenus perhaps fr. Ar. sharqi, pl. sharqiin, Oriental Eastern, fr. sharaga to rise, said of the sun: cf. F. sarrasin. Cf. Sarcenet, Sarrasin, Sirocco.]
Anciently, an Arab; later, a Mussulman; in the Middle Ages, the common term among Christians in Europe for a Mohammedan hostile to the crusaders.
Saracen's consound Bot., a kind of ragewort (Senecio Saracenicus), anciently used to heal wounds.
© Webster 1913.