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orange

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: orangé, Orange, and Orangë

English

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Various shades of orange.
Some oranges (the fruits).
An orange tree.

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
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Italian melaranciacalq.
Old French Orengeinflu.
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Old Occitan auranjainflu.
Old French pomme d'orenge
Old French orenge
Middle French orangebor.
Middle English orenge
English orange

    Inherited from Middle English orenge, orange, from Old French pome orenge (“fruit orange”), influenced by the place name Orange (which is from Gaulish and unrelated to the word for the fruit and colour) and by Old Occitan auranja and calqued from Old Italian melarancio, melarancia, compound of mela (“apple”) and un'arancia (“an orange”), from Arabic نَارَنْج (nāranj), from Early Classical Persian نَارَنْگْ (nārang), from Sanskrit नारङ्ग (nāraṅga, “orange tree”),[1] ultimately from Dravidian. Compare Tamil நாரங்காய் (nāraṅkāy), compound of நாரம் (nāram, “water”) and காய் (kāy, “fruit”); also Telugu నారంగము, నారింజ (nāraṅgamu, nāriñja), Malayalam നാരങ്ങ (nāraṅṅa), Kannada ನಾರಂಗಿ (nāraṅgi)). Doublet of aranzada.

    Originally borrowed as the surname (derived from the place name) in the 13th century, before the sense of the fruit was imported in the late 14th century and the colour in 1510.[1] In the colour sense, largely displaced ġeolurēad, whence yellow-red.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    orange (countable and uncountable, plural oranges)

    1. (countable) An evergreen tree of the genus Citrus such as Citrus sinensis which yields oranges (the fruit).
    3. (countable) Any round citrus fruit with a yellow-red colour when ripe and a sour-sweet taste; the fruit of the orange tree.
      1. (countable) Specifically, a sweet orange or Citrus sinensis.
    5. (uncountable) The colour of a ripe fruit of an orange tree, midway between red and yellow.
      orange:  
      Synonym: yellow-red
    6. (uncountable) Various drinks:
      • 2015 March 31, Debbie McGowan, Two By Two, Beaten Track Publishing, →ISBN, page 81:
        “What you drinking?” “Orange and soda will go down nicely, thanks.” “Pint?” “Sure.” Andy headed for the bar, stopping along the way to kiss Shaunna and check she and Kris were OK for a drink. “Everything all right?” Sean asked.
      • 2015 May 7, Tosh Lavery, Tosh: An Amazing True Story Of Life, Death, Danger And Drama In The Garda Sub-Aqua Unit, Penguin UK, →ISBN:
        I ran out into the street and around the block, searching everywhere, and finally burst into O'Dowd's pub around the corner to see Thomas sitting at the bar drinking orange and eating a bag of crisps with two old men.
      • 2018 May 25, Michael Nilsen, Beyond the Cave, Troubador Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 82:
        It transpired this lad was drinking orange and faculties were keen. There were one or two verbal exchanges, then I followed him into the car park. He said to the doorman, 'I won't be long.' He easily knocked me to the ground.
      • 2021 June 10, Anna McPartlin, Waiting for the Miracle: Warm your heart this winter with this uplifting novel from the bestselling author of THE LAST DAYS OF RABBIT HAYES, Bonnier Zaffre Ltd., →ISBN:
        When the fast songs played, like the Beatles' 'Help' or The Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction', Justin and I sat on two wooden chairs, drinking orange and holding hands. When the nuns weren't watching, I rested my head on his shoulder.
      1. An orange-coloured and orange-flavoured cordial.
      2. An orange-coloured and orange-flavoured soft drink.
      3. (uncommon) Orange juice.
    7. (heraldry) A rarely-used nontraditional tincture found in Catalan, South African, and French municipal heraldry.
    8. (heraldry) An orange-coloured roundel.
    9. An orange dye or pigment.
    10. A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of orange pigment.
    11. Something, or a part of a thing, which is orange.

    Usage notes

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    • It is commonly stated that orange has no rhymes. While there are no commonly used English dictionary words that rhyme exactly with orange (door hinge comes close in US pronunciation), see Rhymes:English/ɒɹɪndʒ for some possibilities. See also the Wikipedia article about rhymes for the word orange.
    • In most dialects, orange is pronounced with two syllables. But in certain dialects of North American English, the vowel of the second syllable is deleted and the word is pronounced as one syllable.[2] In such dialects, the two forms are generally allophonic.

    Hypernyms

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    Derived terms

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