orange (French)
Where does "orange" come from?
The French word 'orange' began as the Old French 'orenge,' which was an abbreviated form of 'pomme d'orenge,' a phrase modeled after the Old Italian term 'melarancia' (honey apple). Interestingly, the initial vowel was likely influenced by the name of the French city Orange, which helped transition the word into the form we recognize today in both French and English. This linguistic journey highlights how a fruit's name can transform through cultural imitation and the influence of geographic locations.
Full etymology tree
- orange (French), 'orange (fruit)'
- inherited orange (Middle French), 'orange (fruit of the orange tree)'
- inherited orenge (Old French), 'orange (fruit of the orange tree)'
- calque melarancia (Italian), 'sweet orange, Citrus sinensis (fruit)'
- compound mela (Italian), 'apple (fruit)'
- inherited mēla (Late Latin)
- inherited mēlum (Latin), 'apple'
- inherited mālum (Latin), 'inflection of malus:'
- borrowed μᾶλον (Ancient Greek), 'Doric and Aeolic form of μῆλον (mêlon, “apple”)'
- inherited mālum (Latin), 'inflection of malus:'
- inherited mēlum (Latin), 'apple'
- inherited mēla (Late Latin)
- compound arancia (Italian), 'orange (fruit)'
- derived arancio (Italian), 'orange (color/colour)'
- borrowed نَارَنْج (Arabic), 'bitter orange (Citrus aurantium)'
- borrowed نارنگ (Persian), 'bitter orange'
- borrowed नारङ्ग (Sanskrit), 'the orange tree'
- borrowed نارنگ (Persian), 'bitter orange'
- borrowed نَارَنْج (Arabic), 'bitter orange (Citrus aurantium)'
- derived arancio (Italian), 'orange (color/colour)'
- compound mela (Italian), 'apple (fruit)'
- semantic loan auranja (Old Occitan), 'orange (fruit)'
- semantic loan *Aurinica (Vulgar Latin)
- derived Arausiō (Latin), 'a town in Gallia Narbonensis, on the road from Arles to Vienne, now Orange'
- borrowed *arausi (Gaulish)
- derived Arausiō (Latin), 'a town in Gallia Narbonensis, on the road from Arles to Vienne, now Orange'
- calque melarancia (Italian), 'sweet orange, Citrus sinensis (fruit)'
- inherited orenge (Old French), 'orange (fruit of the orange tree)'
- inherited orange (Middle French), 'orange (fruit of the orange tree)'
Ancestors
- orange (Middle French)
- orenge (Old French)
Descendants and derived words
- Orange (German)
- orange (Danish)
- orange (Danish)
- Orange (German)
- zoranj (Haitian Creole)
- Ransch (Hunsrik)
- oranžs (Latvian)
- zoranj (Louisiana Creole)
- zoranj (Louisiana Creole)
- Orange (Luxembourgish)
- oranj (Romanian)
- orange (Swedish)
Updated May 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris