Origin of the word "sage"

Question

The pioneers and cowboys used to call the grasslands of the southwest "sage" (this does not include the deserts).
"Riders of the Purple Sage" was a Zane Grey novel about the purple seed-grasses on the Colorado Plateau.
Why did they call it sage? I can find no dictionary definition of these arid steppes called sage.
Did sagebrush get its name from the grasslands?
Or did the grassland get its name from the brush?
Just a curiosity.
Ron Smith

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"R*" (Email Removed) schrieb im Newsbeitrag
[nq:1]The pioneers and cowboys used to call the grasslands of the southwest "sage" (this does not include the deserts). "Riders ... called sage. Did sagebrush get its name from the grasslands? Or did the grassland get its name from the brush?[/nq]
The reference is probably to the sagebrush plains of western North America.

Sage itself is a plant of the mint family, and comes in several varieties. The name comes from the Latin "salvus", meaning "safe", which alludes to its reputed healing properties. Sage is of the genus salvia.

Sagebrush, on the other hand, is a plant of the genus artemisia, and grows particularly well in the dry, alkaline areas of the western US. I can only assume that sagebrush must look similar to sage.
So I imagine we had sage first, then sagebrush (the plant) and hence the sagebrush plains, named after the plant that grows there particularly well. Sage grouse, incidentally, is a grouse that lives on the sagebrush plains.

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[nq:1]"R*" schrieb:[/nq]
[nq:2]The pioneers and cowboys used to call the grasslands of ... Or did the grassland get its name from the brush?[/nq]
[nq:1]The reference is probably to the sagebrush plains of western North America. Sage itself is a plant of the mint ... after the plant that grows there particularly well. Sage grouse, incidentally, is a grouse that lives on the sagebrush plains.[/nq]
This is what M-W Online has to say about the origins:

Main Entry: sage·brush
Pronunciation: 'sAj-"br&sh
Function: noun
any of several No. American hoary composite subshrubs (genus Artemisia); especially : one (A. tridentata) having a bitter juice and an odor resembling sage and often covering vast tracts of alkaline plains in the western U.S.
From that I gather that it is not the looks so much as the odor that resembles that of the sage plant.
It also has:
Main Entry: 3sage
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French sauge, from Latin salvia, from salvus healthy; from its use as a medicinal herb more at SAFE
1 : a mint (Salvia officinalis) with grayish green aromatic leaves usedespecially in flavoring meats; broadly : SALVIA

2 : SAGEBRUSH

And that explains the "sage = sagebrush" usage.

Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/

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[nq:1]The pioneers and cowboys used to call the grasslands of the southwest "sage" (this does not include the deserts). "Riders ... called sage. Did sagebrush get its name from the grasslands? Or did the grassland get its name from the brush?[/nq]
The plant first, the geography second. Lewis and Clark seem to have been the first to mention, atleast in English, the vast areas of wild sage. See the sub-entry for this, below.
From the .
SAGE
(ME. sauge, a. F. sauge (13th c. in Littré):L. salvia (whence late OE. saluie, ME. SAVE n.). Cf. Pr., Sp., It. salvia, Pg. salva; also MLG. salvie, selve, Du. salie, OHG. salbeia, salveia fem. (mod.G. salbei masc.). For the phonology in Eng. cf. CHAFE v., GAUGE, SAFE, SAVE.)
1. A plant of the genus Salvia, N.O. Labiatæ; esp. S. officinalis, anaromatic culinary herb. Hence, the leaves of this plant used in Cookery. Sage, much esteemed formerly as a medicinal herb, is not now included in the British Pharmacopia, but in domestic medicine is still used in the preparation of sage-tea (see 6b).
a1310 in Wright Lyric P. (Percy Soc.) 26 He is blosme opon bleo brihtest under bis, With celydoyne ant sauge, as thou thi self sys. 1390 GOWER Conf. III. 131 Salge is his herbe appourtenant Aboven al the remenant. c1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 11 Do er to sage and persely oyng. 1533 ELYOT Cast. Helthe II. xvi. (1541) 29 Sauge. It healeth, and sommewhat byndeth.
1578 LYTE Dodoens II. lxxvii. 250 There be two sortes of Sage, the one issmall and franke, and the other is great. The great Sage is of three sortes, that is to say, greene, white, and redde. 1584 COGAN Haven Health xi. 33 Sage is vsed commonly in sawces, as to stuffe veale, porke, rosting pigges, and that for good cause. 1590 SPENSER Muiopotmos 187 The wholesome saulge, and lavender still gray. 1610 FLETCHER Faithf. Sheph. II. ii, These for frenzy be A speedy and a soueraigne remedie. The bitter Wormewood, Sage and Marigold. 1714 GAY Sheph. Week II. 13 Marbled with Sage the hard'ning Cheese she press'd. 1766 (ANSTEY) Bath Guide II. (1807)
77 But what's the sage without the goose? 1881 Encycl. Brit. XII. 289/2Sage, Salvia officinalis, a hardy evergreen undershrub, belonging to the labiates, of which there are two varieties, the green-leaved and the red-leaved.
2. Cookery. a. A force-meat, ?pottage?, or sauce in which sage isthe chief ingredient. sage yfarced, sage stuffing. Also quasi-adj. in partly anglicized names of culinary preparations containing sage, as fritter sage, sauce sage. Obs.
?c1390 Forme of Cury (1780) 23 Pygges in sawse Sawge. Ibid. 72 Sawge yfarced. c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 28 Sauge. Take Gyngere, Galyngale, Clowys, & grynde in a morter; an take an handfulle of Sawge, & do er-to (etc.). Ibid. 41 Sauoge. Take Pigis fete clene y-pekyd; an tak Freysshe broe of Beff, & draw mylke of Almaundys, & e Piggys er-in; en mence Sawge (etc.). c1450 Ibid. 72 Pigge or chiken in Sauge. c1460 J. RUSSELL Bk. Nurture 501 Frutur sawge.
b. sage and onions: a stuffing chiefly composed of those ingredients, used for goose, duck, pork, etc. Also sage-and-onion stuffing.
1747 H. GLASSE Cookery 4 Some love the Knuckle (of pork) stuffed withOnions and Sage shred small. 1824 New Syst. Cookery 113 Ducks roasted. Stuff one with sage and onion,..crums,..and pepper and salt. 1861 MRS. BEETON Bk. Househ. Managem. 241 (heading) Sage-and-onion stuffing, for geese, ducks, and pork. 189. Encycl. Pract. Cookery (ed. Garrett) s.v., Sage-and-Onion Stuffing.
3. In the names of plants of other genera. Bengal sage, Meriandrabengalensis (Treas. Bot. 1866). bitter, garlick, mountain or wood sage, Teucrium Scorodonia. black sage, (a) Cordia cylindrostachya; (b) in California, Trichostema lanatum (Cent. Dict. 1891). French sage, Phlomis fruticosa. Jerusalem sage, also sage of Jerusalem or Bethlehem, (a) Pulmonaria officinalis; (b) Phlomis fruticosa. seaside sage, Croton balsamiferum (Treas. Bot.). rock sage, a species of Sideritis. white sage, in U.S., a woolly chenopodiaceous plant used as a febrifuge, Eurotia lanata; also applied to other plants of the same order, Kochia prostrata and Audibertia polystachya (Cent. Dict.). wild sage, (a) = bitter sage; (b) see quot. 1866.
a1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 10/2 Ambrosia, wild sauge. 1548 TURNER Names of Herbs (1881) 18 Bacchar or Baccaris is the herbe (as I thynke) that we call in english Sage of Hierusalem. 1562 Rock sage (see IRONWORT). 1578 LYTE Dodoens I. lxxxv. 125 Sage of Jerusalem hath rough, hearie, and large, browne greene leaues, sprinckled with diuers white spots. 1597 GERARDE Herbal II. ccv. 535 Wood Sage, or Garlicke Sage. Ibid. ccliii. 625 Of French Sage, or woodie Mullein... They are called of the learned men of our time Verbasca syluestria... In English it is generally called French Sage, we may call it Sage Mullein. Ibid. cclxxv. 663 Pulmonaria,..Sage of Ierusalem, Cowslip of Ierusalem, Sage of Bethlem.
1731 MILLER Gard. Dict., Scordium,..Wild Sage, vulgo. 1741 Compl.Fam.-Piece II. iii. 374 Several other..Shrubs..are now in Flower, as the several sorts of Jerusalem Sage. 1864 GRISEBACH Flora W. Ind. Isl. 787 Black sage: Cordia cylindrostachya. 1865 GOSSE Land & Sea (1874) 15 The wood germander, or bitter sage. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v., Wild Sage, a name in the Cape colony for Tarchonanthus camphoratus.
4. = sage-brush (see 6b).
1805 M. LEWIS Jrnl. 12 May in Orig. Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1904)II. 29 The wild hysop sage..and some other herbs also grow in the plains and hills. 1807 P. GASS Jrnl. 127 A kind of wild sage or hyssop, as high as a man's head,..grows in these bottoms. 1837 W. IRVING Capt. Bonneville II. 206 The country, hereabout,..producing very little grass, but a considerable quantity of sage or wormwood. 1851 MAYNE REID Scalp Hunt. xxvi, A desert country, here and there covered with wild sage and mezquite. 1872 C. KING Mountain. Sierra Nev. xiii. 265 Desert too gentle and overspread with sage to be terrible.
5. The colour of sage.
1881 C. C. HARRISON Woman's Handiwork I. 20 A ground of sage or ofPompeian red velvet. 1971 Vogue 15 Sept. 129/1 Suit..sizes 10-16: colours: brown/white, burnt orange/white, olive/sage.
6. a. attrib. and Comb.: simple attrib., as sage-ash, colour, juice,leaf, oil, root, -scrub; also in the names of preparations flavoured or medicated with sage, as sage ale, bread, drink, gargle, wine; instrumental, as sage-covered adj.; similative, as sage-leaved adj.; parasynthetic, as sage-coloured adj.
1584 COGAN Haven Health xi. 33 Much after the same manner (as themaking of sage wine) is made *Sage ale. 1597 GERARDE Herbal II. cclii. 624 Sage ale, being brewed as it shoulde be, with Sage, Scabious, Betonie, Spikenard, Squinanth, and Fennell seedes.

1923 D. H. LAWRENCE Birds, Beasts & Flowers 147 An eagle at the top of alow cedar-bush On the *sage-ash desert.

1668 R. SHARROCK Let. to Boyle 7 Apr., B.'s Wks. 1744 V. 4, I have *** bread do much good in drying up watry humours.
1596 Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 79 Sould him of the *** culler q' & d.
Ibid., iij yeardes of leight *sayge cullerd fustian.
1851 MAYNE REID Scalp Hunt. xlii, We passed over *sage-covered plains.
1747 H. GLASSE Cookery 121 *Sage Drink.
189. Encycl. Cookery (ed. Garrett), *Sage gargle.
1755 WESLEY Prim. Physic cxx. 73 Hoarseness... Take a Spoonful ***-juice Morning and Evening.

14.. Med. MS. in Anglia XIX. 78 Take a *sawge-leef and wryte eron. 1661J. CHILDREY Brit. Baconica 5 They have a slate of three sorts, blew, sage-leaf-coloured, and gray. 1747 WESLEY Prim. Phys. (1762) 88 Apply boiled Sage leaves hot. 1884 BROWNING Ferishtah Prol., Sage-leaf is bitter-pungentso's a quince.

Regards, Frank Young
(Email Removed) 703-527-7684 Post Office Box 2793, Kensington, Maryland 20891 "Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate... Nunc cognosco ex parte"

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[nq:1]The pioneers and cowboys used to call the grasslands of the southwest "sage" (this does not include the deserts). "Riders ... called sage. Did sagebrush get its name from the grasslands? Or did the grassland get its name from the brush?[/nq]
the Dictionary of American English shows "sage" being used attributively to mean "covered with sagebrush" (sage hills, sage country) from 1845 on.

It doesn't show "sage" used alone to mean "an area covered with sagebrush," but it does show "sage-brush" or "sagebrush" used that way, from 1870 on.
The Dictionary of the Old West does record "sage" used to mean "area covered with sagebrush," in 1934. (Kind of a late date for Old West.)

Best Donna Richoux

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[nq:1]The pioneers and cowboys used to call the grasslands of the southwest "sage" (this does not include the deserts). "Riders ... called sage. Did sagebrush get its name from the grasslands? Or did the grassland get its name from the brush?[/nq]
It comes from the word "salvia", the Latino Botanical name for "sage".

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[nq:2]The pioneers and cowboys used to call the grasslands of ... Or did the grassland get its name from the brush?[/nq]
[nq:1]the Dictionary of American English shows "sage" being used attributively to mean "covered with sagebrush" (sage hills, sage country) from ... does record "sage" used to mean "area covered with sagebrush," in 1934. (Kind of a late date for Old West.)[/nq]
Don't all let's be so concerned with the mint. The salvia PERENNIAL is what the original guy is talking about.
Sage is also the name of this hella bitchy woman who used to be a member of the X-Men. When they thought Xavier was gonna die, they sent Sage and some of the other X-Men on a quest to find the Books Of Destiny.

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[nq:2]The pioneers and cowboys used to call the grasslands of the southwest "sage" (this does not include the deserts).[/nq]
Well, but it does include the northern deserts of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, where sagebrush is often the dominant plant.
[nq:2]"Riders of the Purple Sage" was a Zane Grey novel[/nq]
As well as two country-western bands, the original "Riders of the Purple Sage" formed in the 1930s and the "New Riders of the Purple Sage" formed in 1969.
[nq:2]about the purple seed-grasses on the Colorado Plateau.[/nq]
Not grasses, but small bushy plants called "sagebrush". Artemisia tridentata is the sagebrush of the .

Artemisia absinthum is "wormwood", or "Wermut", the purported active ingredient (after alcohol) in "absinthe".
[nq:2]Why did they call it sage? I can find no ... Or did the grassland get its name from the brush?[/nq]
Sagebrush gets its name from its smell, similar to that of "true" sage, the herb used to season various meats. Salvia officinalis is the usual European sage. Salvia mellifera is California black sage, Salvia apiana is white, or bee, sage it's used as a smudge or incense, burned in tight bundles for its fragrance.

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[nq:1]Well, but it does include the northern deserts of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, where sagebrush is often the dominant plant. ... "Riders of the Purple Sage" formed in the 1930s and the "New Riders of the Purple Sage" formed in 1969.[/nq]
And, it seems, recently re-formed. According to a DJ on Radio 2, their new CD gives the band's name as "New Riders of the Purple Sage (TM)", suggesting there may have been some dispute about it. Can you trademark a name like that? I tried to look at their website (http://www.nrpsmusic.com/) but it wants to install a music player which I'm sure I can do without.

Don Aitken
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Origin of the word "sage"

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