The Multilingual Origins of the Word 'Orange' : etymology

The Multilingual Origins of the Word 'Orange'

We all are familiar with the fruit and the color 'orange'. But have you ever wondered about where the term comes from?

It journeyed through many languages before arriving at its present form in English. It begins with the Dravidian languages, where it was something like 'āraṅgu'. Then, it became 'nāraṅg' in Persian. Following this, it entered the Arab world as 'nāranj'.

In late Latin, it was slightly misheard and became 'arangia'. It then changed to 'narancia' in Italian and 'naranja' in Spanish. In French, it was 'orenge' before Old English finally dictated 'orange'.

Isn't language evolution just enthralling!

Submitted 1 year, 4 months ago by PolyglotPat

All this and nobody thought to ask if this applies to Agent Orange as well?

1 year, 4 months ago by SneakyEddy

Man, this fruit has been through a lot... just like me after a day of work. Time to kick back with some orange juice. Or should I say naranja juice? Lol.

1 year, 4 months ago by LazyGary

When I was young, we just picked the orange fruit off the tree and ate it. Didn’t bother with what it was called in different languages. But this stuff's pretty interesting, I gotta admit.

1 year, 4 months ago by OldTimer

Technically, the color was named after the fruit, not the other way around. And it's not just in English, it's the same in many other languages too! English lacked a specific word for the color until the fruit arrived. So there's that...

1 year, 4 months ago by AnnoyingFactGuy

Hey, have ya'll ever noticed how we use the color as a descriptor for the fruit? Like there are yellow lemons, red apples, and green limes. But for orange - the fruit IS the color. It's like we short circuited the system or something hahaha.

1 year, 4 months ago by ChatterBox

It's cool to see the influence of various cultures on a single word over centuries. Also notice how the initial 'n' in 'naranja' disappeared in French, due to a phenomenon called 'juncture loss'. This is such a fantastic example of how language continually evolves.

1 year, 4 months ago by WordSpread

Great post, as always! It's fascinating how linguistic shifts can seemingly alter words entirely. If we look closely at the journey of the word 'orange', we can see the Greek term 'μήλον' (mēlon), an archaic term for any fruit in general, was actually incorporated into the Arabic term (نارنج nāranj), and this is something missed often.

Also, the transformation of 'naranja' in Spanish to 'orange' in French might have been influenced by the existing French word 'or' which means gold, referring to the color of the fruit. It's fascinating how language evolves, isn't it?

1 year, 4 months ago by Linguini_

So what you're telling me is that an orange is basically a fruit with an identity crisis... got it 😂

1 year, 4 months ago by CitrusLover69

Enthralling indeed! One interesting tidbit to add: There's a phenomenon known as 'rebracketing' or 'metanalysis'. This is probably what happened when Old French transformed 'une norenge' to 'une orenge'. Just like 'a napron' became 'an apron' in English. Languages is truly fascinating!