saturnine

English

/ˈsætənaɪn/, /ˈsætɚˌnaɪn/

adj
Definitions
  • (comparable) Of a person: having a tendency to be cold, bitter, gloomy, sarcastic, and slow to change and react.
  • (comparable) Of a setting: depressing, dull, gloomy.
  • (comparable) Of, pertaining to, or containing lead (which was symbolically associated with the planet Saturn by alchemists).
  • (not comparable) Of a disease: caused by lead poisoning (saturnism); of a person: affected by lead poisoning.
  • (not comparable) Pertaining to the astrological influence of the planet Saturn; having the characteristics of a person under such influence (see sense 1).

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English saturnine borrowed from Old French saturnine derived from Latin Sāturnīnus suffix from English Saturn.

Origin

English

Saturn

Gloss

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms