Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One venerated for experience, judgment, and wisdom.
  • adjective Having or exhibiting wisdom and calm judgment.
  • adjective Proceeding from or marked by wisdom and calm judgment.
  • adjective Archaic Serious; solemn.
  • noun Any of various plants of the genus Salvia of the mint family, especially S. officinalis, having aromatic grayish-green leaves.
  • noun The leaves of S. officinalis used as a seasoning.
  • noun Any of various similar or related plants, chiefly in the mint family.
  • noun Sagebrush.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Wise; judicious; prudent.
  • Applied to advice: Sound; well-judged; adapted to the situation.
  • Learned; profound; having great science.
  • Synonyms Sagacious, Knowing, etc. (see astute), judicious. See list under sagacious.
  • Oracular, venerable.
  • noun A wise man; a man of gravity and wisdom; particularly, a man venerable for years, and known as a man of sound judgment and prudence; a grave philosopher.
  • noun A plant of the genus Salvia, especially S. officinalis, the common garden sage.
  • noun A name of certain plants of other genera. See the phrases below.
  • noun In California, Trichostema lanatum, a labiate plant.
  • noun See Kochia.
  • noun In southern California, another whitish plant of the same order, Audibertia polystachya, a shrub from 3 to 10 feet high, useful in bee-pastures. It is one of the plants called greasewood.
  • noun In Jamaica, species of Lantana.
  • noun At the Cape of Good Hope, a large composite shrub, Tarchonanthus camphoratus, having a strong balsamic odor. Also called African fleabane.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A suffruticose labiate plant (Salvia officinalis) with grayish green foliage, much used in flavoring meats, etc. The name is often extended to the whole genus, of which many species are cultivated for ornament, as the scarlet sage, and Mexican red and blue sage.
  • noun The sagebrush.
  • noun (Bot.) a blue-flowered species of Salvia (S. pratensis) growing in meadows in Europe.
  • noun cheese flavored with sage, and colored green by the juice of leaves of spinach and other plants which are added to the milk.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the male of the sage grouse; in a more general sense, the specific name of the sage grouse.
  • noun of a dull grayish green color, like the leaves of garden sage.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a very large American grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), native of the dry sagebrush plains of Western North America. Called also cock of the plains. The male is called sage cock, and the female sage hen.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a species of hare (Lepus Nuttalli syn. Lepus artemisia) which inhabits the arid regions of Western North America and lives among sagebrush. By recent writers it is considered to be merely a variety of the common cottontail, or wood rabbit.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the female of the sage grouse.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a small sparrow (Amphispiza Belli, var. Nevadensis) which inhabits the dry plains of the Rocky Mountain region, living among sagebrush.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a singing bird (Oroscoptes montanus) which inhabits the sagebrush plains of Western North America.
  • noun (Bot.) a species of willow (Salix tristis) forming a low bush with nearly sessile grayish green leaves.
  • adjective Having nice discernment and powers of judging; prudent; grave; sagacious.
  • adjective Proceeding from wisdom; well judged; shrewd; well adapted to the purpose.
  • adjective rare Grave; serious; solemn.
  • noun A wise man; a man of gravity and wisdom; especially, a man venerable for years, and of sound judgment and prudence; a grave philosopher.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective wise
  • noun a wise man or spiritual teacher; a man of gravity and wisdom, especially, a teacher venerable for years, and of sound judgment and prudence; a grave or stoic philosopher
  • noun A savory spice, Salvia officinalis, also planted for ornamental purposes. Scientific name: Salvia officinalis
  • interjection Internet slang Word used in the email field of imageboards to prevent a bump of the post. Used as an option rather than a word in some imageboard software
  • verb Internet slang The act of using the word or option sage in the email field or a checkbox of an imageboard when posting a reply

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of various plants of the genus Salvia; a cosmopolitan herb
  • adjective having wisdom that comes with age and experience
  • noun a mentor in spiritual and philosophical topics who is renowned for profound wisdom
  • noun aromatic fresh or dried grey-green leaves used widely as seasoning for meats and fowl and game etc
  • adjective of the grey-green color of sage leaves

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English sauge, from Old French, from Latin salvia, from salvus, healthy; see sol- in Indo-European roots.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *sapius, from Latin sapere, to be wise; see sep- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French sage (11th century), from Gallo-Romance *sabius, from Vulgar Latin *sapius, from Latin sapere ("to taste, to discern, to be wise"), from Proto-Indo-European *sap- (“to taste”). The noun meaning "man of profound wisdom" is recorded from circa 1300. Originally applied to the Seven Sages of Greece.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French sauge, from Latin salvia, from salvus (healthy), see safe.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Japanese 下げる (sageru, "to lower").

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Examples

  • This shrub is the _artemisia_ -- a species of wild sage or wormwood, -- and the plains upon which it grows are called by the hunters, who cross them, the _sage prairies_.

    The Desert Home The Adventures of a Lost Family in the Wilderness Mayne Reid 1850

  • At squash planting time, the sage is about four inches high

    Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden 1917

  • While condemning every attempt of a people to establish its own liberties, Alexander still believed that in some countries sovereigns would do well to make their subjects a grant of what he called sage and liberal institutions.

    A History of Modern Europe, 1792-1878 Charles Alan Fyffe 1868

  • In the first place the feet sink in the loose and sandy soil, in the second it is densely covered with the hideous porcupine; to avoid the constant prickings from this the walker is compelled to raise his feet to an unnatural height; and another hideous vegetation, which I call sage-bush, obstructs even more, although it does not pain so much as the irritans.

    Australia Twice Traversed, Illustrated, Ernest Giles 1866

  • The name sage, meaning wisdom, appears to have had a different origin, but as the plant was reputed to strengthen the memory, there seems to be ground for believing that those who ate the plant would be wise.

    Culinary Herbs: Their Cultivation Harvesting Curing and Uses M. G. Kains

  • In fear of death, the quiet saint or sage is dying all his life.

    Archive 2009-07-01 Hal Duncan 2009

  • The sage is subtle, overshadowed by the roast and hops; the hot peppers reach a crescendo way back in the throat, singeing the uvula.

    Beer: Stone's tap takeover Greg Kitsock 2010

  • And, just a word of sage counsel for your next movie role.

    Kristin Wilson Keppler: Celebrity Head Transplants Kristin Wilson Keppler 2011

  • This turkey breast, flavored with the traditional rosemary and sage, is also dusted with chili powder and served with a side of collard greens as a nod to Africa.

    White House guest chef offers politicos a turkey recipe 2009

  • In fear of death, the quiet saint or sage is dying all his life.

    The Lucifer Cantos 7/13 Hal Duncan 2009

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