sage

The 'wise person' sense comes from Middle English sage, via Old French sage, from Vulgar Latin *sapium, tracing back to Latin sapere, 'to taste, to discern, to be wise.' The herb sense is a separate word: Middle English sauge, from Middle French sauge, Old French salje, and Latin salvia, from salvus, 'healthy.'

The wisdom sense entered English around 1300 as a noun for a 'man of profound wisdom,' first applied to the Seven Sages of Greece before broadening to describe any deeply wise person.

The herb sense makes sage a doublet of salvia, and its root salvus connects it to the English word safe.