entry
orange
/ˈɔrɪndʒ/Citrus fruit, tree, or reddish-yellow color
From Sanskrit, ultimately probably Dravidian narang (Orange tree or orange fruit).
from Persian narang
from Persian narang
from Old French orange , orenge (12c., Modern French orange )
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Persian narang
from Persian narang
from Old French orange , orenge (12c., Modern French orange )
+1 more sourceA fruit from northern India carried its name across an astonishing linguistic caravan route: Sanskrit nāraṅga became Persian nārang, Arabic nāranj, Italian arancia, and finally French orange. The missing n is the great disappearing act—speakers may have heard an expression like “a narange” and mistaken the first sound for the indefinite article, just as if English had turned “an apricot” into “a pricot.” Europeans first used orange for the fruit in the late fourteenth century, but not for the color until the 1510s; before that, a similar shade might be called saffron or citrine. Christopher Columbus brought orange seeds to the Caribbean on his second voyage in 1493, while Juan Ponce de León introduced them to Florida in 1513. The fruit named the color, not the other way around: orange is a linguistic snapshot of a once-exotic Indian tree still traveling in every traffic cone, sunset, and breakfast glass.
The Story
A fruit from northern India carried its name across an astonishing linguistic caravan route: Sanskrit nāraṅga became Persian nārang, Arabic nāranj, Italian arancia, and finally French orange. The missing n is the great disappearing act—speakers may have heard an expression like “a narange” and mistaken the first sound for the indefinite article, just as if English had turned “an apricot” into “a pricot.” Europeans first used orange for the fruit in the late fourteenth century, but not for the color until the 1510s; before that, a similar shade might be called saffron or citrine. Christopher Columbus brought orange seeds to the Caribbean on his second voyage in 1493, while Juan Ponce de León introduced them to Florida in 1513. The fruit named the color, not the other way around: orange is a linguistic snapshot of a once-exotic Indian tree still traveling in every traffic cone, sunset, and breakfast glass.
Modern Usage
A mocking term for an excessively orange-looking artificial tan
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary
Kin & Kindred
From 'narang'·Orange tree or orange fruit
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Etymonline
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary