orange (English)

Where does "orange" come from?

The English word 'orange' traces its ultimate roots back to Dravidian through Sanskrit 'नारङ्ग' meaning 'orange tree'[1][2]. The term traveled into Classical Persian as 'نَارَنْگْ' and then into Arabic as 'نَارَنْج'[1][11]. From Arabic, it entered Romance languages, appearing in Old French as 'orenge' and Old Occitan as 'auranja'[1][3]. The Middle French form was borrowed into Middle English as 'orenge'[1][4]. Originally entering English as a surname in the thirteenth century, the word later came to denote the fruit in the late fourteenth century and the color in 1510[1]. In its European journey, the word was influenced by the place name 'Orange' and calqued from Italian 'melarancio'[1].

Open questions

• The Sanskrit term may alternatively derive from 'nāga-raṅga-' meaning colored like lead oxide, or trace back to a Proto-Austroasiatic root. [2]

Full etymology tree

• orange (English), 'Having the colour of the fruit of an orange tree; yellowred; reddish-yellow.'
  • inherited orenge (Middle English), 'orange (orange-coloured citrus fruit)'
    • borrowed orange (Middle French), 'orange (fruit of the orange tree)'
      • inherited orenge (Old French), 'orange (fruit of the orange tree)'
        • contraction pomme d'orenge (Old French), 'orange (fruit)'
          • calque melarancia (Italian), 'sweet orange, Citrus sinensis (fruit)'
            • compound mela (Italian), 'apple (fruit)'
              • inherited mēla (Late Latin)
                • inherited melum (Latin), 'apple'
                  • inherited malum (Latin), 'apple (fruit)'
                    • borrowed μᾶλον (mâlon) (Ancient Greek), 'Doric and Aeolic form of μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”)'
            • compound arancia (Italian), 'orange (fruit)'
              • inherited نارنج (nāranj) (Arabic), 'bitter orange (Citrus aurantium)'
                • inherited نَارَنْگْ (nārang) (Early Classical Persian)
                  • inherited नारङ्ग (nāraṅga) (Sanskrit), 'the orange tree'
                    • borrowed (Dravidian)
                      • derived *ŋaːm (Proto-Austroasiatic), 'sweet'
          • influenced by auranja (Old Occitan), 'orange (fruit)'
            • inherited نارنج (nāranj) (Arabic), 'bitter orange (Citrus aurantium)'
              • inherited نَارَنْگْ (nārang) (Early Classical Persian)
                • inherited नारङ्ग (nāraṅga) (Sanskrit), 'the orange tree'
                  • borrowed (Dravidian)
                    • derived *ŋaːm (Proto-Austroasiatic), 'sweet'
          • influenced by Orenge (Old French)

Ancestors

• orenge (Middle English)
• auranja (Old Occitan)
• नारङ्ग (Sanskrit)

Cognates and doublets

• നാരങ്ങ (Malayalam)

Descendants and derived words

• nonorange (English)
• orange baboon tarantula (English)
• orangeberry (English)
• orange bitey thing (English)
• orangecello (English)
• Orange Clown (English)
• orange dwarf (English)
• orange foxtail (English)
• orange Hokkaido (English)
• Orangeism (English)
• orangeite (English)
• orangelike (English)

Sources

1. orange (English) - Wiktionary
2. नारङ्ग (nāraṅga) (Sanskrit) - Wiktionary
3. auranja (Old Occitan) - Wiktionary
4. orenge (Middle English) - Wiktionary
5. orange (Middle French) - Wiktionary
6. orenge (Old French) - Wiktionary
7. ŋaːm (Proto-Austroasiatic) - Wiktionary
8. pomme d'orenge (Old French) - Wiktionary
9. melarancia (Italian) - Wiktionary
10. mela (Italian) - Wiktionary
11. نارنج (nāranj) (Arabic) - Wiktionary
12. نارنگ (Persian) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris