sage

English has two words spelled sage: the adjective "wise" and the name of the herb, both from French but from different Latin words.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /seɪd͡ʒ/^[4]

sage¹ wise

Etymology

The adjective is borrowed from Old French sage (“wise, knowledgeable”),^[1][5][2] from a Gallo-Romance alteration of Vulgar Latin *sapius,^[1][5][3] from Latin sapiō (“to have taste, be wise”).^[1][5][2] Klein and the OED infer *sapius from nesapius (“foolish”), found in Petronius.^[6][7] It is related to sapient.^[3][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, wise, discreet: 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle;^[7] Barnhart dates it about 1300, and as a surname from 1179.^[1]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a man of profound wisdom, is from probably before 1350 (1399 in the OED's first example, in Langland),^[1][7] at first especially for the Seven Sages of ancient Greece.^[9][10] Of advice or conduct, wise, is from 1531, in Elyot.^[7][5] The sense grave or solemn lasted from 1564 to 1645.^[7] From the mid-18th century the noun was also used playfully or ironically (Johnson, 1751),^[7] and in modern use the adjective, of looks or bearing, is often somewhat ironical.^[7]

Timeline

• 1297 – wise, discreet.^[7]
• before 1350 – the noun, a wise person.^[1]
• 1531 – of advice, wise.^[7]
• 1751 – ironic use of the noun.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Wise, especially through long experience.

Noun

1. A person revered for great wisdom.

sage² herb

Etymology

The herb is inherited from Middle English sauge, borrowed from Old French sauge,^[7][1][2] from Latin salvia,^[2][1][7] from salvus (“healthy, safe”),^[2][1][6] from Proto-Indo-European *sol- (“whole”).^[2][5] It was named for the healing properties believed to belong to the plant.^[1][5][9] Late Old English had borrowed saluie directly from Latin.^[7][5] It is a doublet of salvia.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant: before 1325 as sage and about 1325 as sauge, in Barnhart;^[1] the OED's first example is from before 1350, in the Harley Lyrics.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Sage was used as a medicine and in cookery:^[5] a sage stuffing or sauce appears about 1390 in the Forme of Cury,^[7] and sage and onions in 1747, in Hannah Glasse.^[7] The name was given to plants of other genera from about 1400,^[7] and in North America to the sagebrush (1805, Lewis and Clark), with sage-brush from 1852.^[7][1] According to English folklore, sage grows best where the wife is dominant.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1325 – the herb.^[1]
• c. 1390 – a sage stuffing or sauce.^[7]
• 1747 – sage and onions.^[7]
• 1805 – sagebrush.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An aromatic herb (Salvia officinalis) of the mint family with greyish-green leaves, used in cooking.
2. Sagebrush.

Related words

• sapient
• safe
• salvage
• savvy

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)