Orange (word)

The word orange is both a noun and an adjective in the English language. In both cases, it refers primarily to the orange fruit and the colour orange, but has many other derivative meanings.

The word is derived from a Dravidian language, and it passed through numerous other languages including Sanskrit and Old French before reaching the English language. The earliest uses of the word in English refer to the fruit, and the colour was later named after the fruit. Before the English-speaking world was exposed to the fruit, the colour was referred to as "yellow-red" ( in Old English) or "red-yellow".

It is claimed that the word orange has no true rhyme. There are, however, several half rhymes or near-rhymes, as well as some proper nouns and compound words or phrases that rhyme with it. This lack of rhymes has inspired many humorous poems and songs.

The word orange entered Middle English from Old French and Anglo-Norman orenge. The earliest recorded use of the word in English is from the 13th century and referred to the fruit. The earliest attested use of the word in reference to the colour is from the 16th century. It is generally thought that Old French borrowed the Italian melarancio ("fruit of the orange tree", with mela "fruit") as pume orenge (with pume "fruit"). Although pume orenge is attested earlier than melarancio in available written sources, lexicographers believe that the Italian word is actually older.

The word ultimately derives from a Dravidian language — possibly Tamil நாரம் nāram or Telugu నారింజ nāriṃja or Malayalam നാരങ്ങ‌ nāraŋŋa — via Sanskrit नारङ्ग nāraṅgaḥ "orange tree". From there the word entered Persian نارنگ nārang and then Arabic نارنج nāranj. The initial n was lost through rebracketing in Italian and French, though some varieties of Arabic lost the n earlier.

...
Wikipedia