"gloomy, morose, sluggish, grave," 1433, lit. "born under the influence of the planet Saturn," from M.E. Saturne (see Saturn). Medieval physiology believed these characteristics to be caused by the astrological influence of the planet Saturn, which was the most remote from the Sun (in the limited knowledge of the times) and thus coldest and slowest in its revolution.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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