Orange: Which came first, the fruit or the colour?
THOUGH the colour orange is now more popularly associated with mischievous cats of the “oyen” variety, it’s also known for being difficult to rhyme with and sharing a name with the fruit.
However, it’s said that it’s the fruit that got the name first.
Is this true?
Verdict:
TRUE
Citrus fruits, including oranges, originated from Asia, specifically the south-central China region around eight million years ago.
The word "orange" can trace its origins from Proto-Dravidian or Tamil "naram", which was then adapted into "naranga", the Sanskrit word for the orange tree.
Shipping routes and international trade brought the tree (and its fruit, known for its ability to ward off scurvy) west to Europe around the 1200s – you’ll hear similarities in the Spanish "naranja" and the Italian "arancia".
Eventually, the fruit began to go by the same name – in Old French, the fruit of the orange tree was known as "pomme d’orenge" and was eventually shorted to simply, "orenge".
The earliest English instance of the word – "pume orange" – was found in a Middle English manuscript that dates back to the 13th century.
The word wasn’t used to describe a colour until over a century later – according to the Oxford English Dictionary, one of the earliest uses of "orange" as a colour was in a Scottish treasurer’s account book from 1532 that lists "Ane 1/2 elne orenze veluot" as a purchase, or "half a measure of orange velvet".
Before it came to be known as orange, the colour didn’t even have its own name – it was simply known in Old English as "geoluread", meaning "yellow-red".
References:
1. https://www.theguardian.com/
2. https://www.
3. https://www.mentalfloss.com/
4. https://www.etymonline.com/
5. https://www.oed.com/
