Sar·a·cen / ˈsarəsən/ • n. an Arab or Muslim, esp. at the time of the Crusades. ∎  a nomad of the Syrian and Arabian desert at the time of the Roman Empire.DERIVATIVES: Sar·a·cen·ic / ˌserəˈsenik/ adj.

Saracen an Arab or Muslim, especially at the time of the Crusades; originally, among the later Greeks and Romans, a name for the nomadic peoples of the Syro-Arabian desert which harassed the Syrian confines of the Empire.

The name comes (in Middle English, via Old French and late Latin) from late Greek Sarakēnos, perhaps from Arabic šarḳī ‘eastern’. In medieval times the name was often associated with Sarah, the wife of Abraham.
Saracen's head a conventionalized depiction of the head of a Saracen as a heraldic charge or inn sign; recorded from the early 16th century.

Saracen name of nomadic peoples of the Syro-Arabian desert, (hence) Arab, Moslem; †pagan, infidel. XIII. — OF. Sar(r)azin, -cin (mod. Sarrasin) — late L. Saracēnus — late Gr. Sarakēnós, perh. f. Arab. šarḳî eastern, f. šarḳ sunrise, east.