Orange (word) - Etymology

Etymology

The word orange entered Middle English from Old French and Anglo-Norman orenge. The earliest recorded use of the word in English is from the 13th century and referred to the fruit. The earliest attested use of the word in reference to the colour is from the 16th century. It is generally thought that Old French borrowed the Italian melarancio ("fruit of the orange tree", with mela "fruit") as pume orenge (with pume "fruit"). Although pume orenge is attested earlier than melarancio in available written sources, lexicographers believe that the Italian word is actually older. The word ultimately derives from a Dravidian language—possibly Telugu నారింజ naarinja or Malayalam നാരങ്ങ‌ naaranga or Tamil நாரம் nāram—via Sanskrit नारङ्ग nāraṅgaḥ "orange tree", with borrowings through Persian نارنگ nārang and Arabic نارنج nāranj.

The place name Orange has a separate etymology. The Roman-Celtic settlement was founded in 36 or 35 BCE and originally named Arausio, after a Celtic water god. The Principality of Orange was named for this place and not for the colour. Some time after the sixteenth century, though, the colour orange was adopted as a symbol of the House of Orange-Nassau. The colour eventually came to be associated with Protestantism, due to participation by the House of Orange on the Protestant side in the French Wars of Religion and the Dutch Eighty Years' War.