オレンジ色 (Japanese)

Where does "オレンジ色" come from?

The word Orenziiro is a Japanese compound that combines the imported English word 'orange' with the native Japanese suffix '-iro' for color. The journey of 'orange' began in ancient Dravidian and Sanskrit as a term for the orange tree, eventually traveling through Persian, Arabic, and Middle French before reaching English. Interestingly, the fruit's name was influenced by the French city of Orange and only became a common color description in English in the early 16th century.

Full etymology tree

• オレンジ色 (orenji-iro) (Japanese), 'orange (color)'
  • compound オレンジ (orenji) (Japanese), 'an orange (Citrus sinensis)'
    • borrowed orange (English), 'An evergreen tree of the genus Citrus such as Citrus sinensis which yields oranges (the fruit).'
      • inherited orange (Middle English), 'alternative form of orenge'
        • borrowed 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 arancia (Italian), 'orange (fruit)'
                • borrowed نَارَنْج (nāranj) (Arabic), 'bitter orange (Citrus aurantium)'
                  • borrowed نَارَنْگْ (nārang) (Early Classical Persian)
                    • borrowed नारङ्ग (nāraṅga) (Sanskrit), 'the orange tree'
                      • borrowed நாரங்காய் (nāraṅkāy) (Tamil)
                      • derived *ŋaːm (Proto-Austroasiatic), 'sweet'
                      • derived nāga-raṅga- (Sanskrit)
            • influence auranja (Old Occitan), 'orange (fruit)'
  • compound 色 (iro) (Japanese)

Ancestors

• オレンジ (Japanese)
• 色 (Japanese)

Updated May 2026

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