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Etymology and origin of the French word orange

Confidence
Established
Formation
Calque, Clipping
First attested
c. 1200 Alexander Neckam, commentary on the Song of Songs More words from the 12th century
From
Italian melarancia via Old French
Ultimate origin
Persian نارنگ

Pronunciation

  • /ɔ.ʁɑ̃ʒ/[1]

Forms

orange f (plural oranges)[1] Old French orenge, in Anglo-Norman pume orenge (about 1200) and pomme d'orenge (1314); Furetière still noted the spelling orenge.[2][3] As a colour adjective it is invariable: des chaussettes orange.[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French orenge, short for pomme d'orenge.[2][3][1] That phrase is a loan translation, from Old Italian melarancia (“orange”),[2][3][6][1] formed from mela (“apple”) and arancio (“orange tree, orange”).[2][3] The Italian word comes, through Arabic نارنج (nāranj), from Persian نارنگ (nārang), and lost its initial /n/, taken for the /n/ of the indefinite article.[2][3][7] Provençal auranja lost it too, but Spanish naranja kept it.[3]

The initial ⟨o⟩ is probably due to the name of the town of Orange, and the ⟨a⟩ of the modern form to Italian arancia: the spelling “orange” first appears in a translation from Italian, in 1515.[2][3] The GLLF also mentions association with or1 “gold”.[8]

Cognate with Catalan taronja and Portuguese laranja.[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The phrase pume orenge is first found about 1200 in an Anglo-Norman manuscript of Alexander Neckam's commentary on the Song of Songs, of the bitter orange;[2][3][10] Henri de Mondeville (1314) describes the pomme d'orenge as a round, lemon-yellow fruit growing on the Genoese riviera.[2][3][10]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages the word meant the bitter orange, which the Persians passed to the Arabs, who brought it to Sicily, whence it spread through Mediterranean Europe.[2][3] The sweet orange, brought from China by the Portuguese in the 16th century, took over the old name and displaced the bitter one;[2][3][6] Furetière still distinguished the sweet orenge de Portugal or de Chine from the bitter kinds.[3]

Orange alone is found from about 1393, by ellipsis of pomme d'orenge.[2][3] It has been used as a colour adjective since 1553, and in the 17th century also named the tree.[3][2] English orange was taken from Old French in the late 14th century.[11]

Timeline

  • c. 1200 – Pume orenge appears in an Anglo-Norman manuscript of Alexander Neckam.[2][3]
  • 1314 – Henri de Mondeville writes pomme d'orenge.[2][10]
  • c. 1393 – Orenge alone appears in the Ménagier de Paris.[2][3]
  • 1388 – The tree name oranger is recorded as orengier.[3]
  • 1515 – The spelling orange appears in a translation from Italian.[2][3]
  • 1553 – First used as an adjective of colour.[2][3]
  • 1642 – The derivative orangeade is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An orange, the juicy reddish-yellow fruit of the orange tree: un jus d'orange, orange amère, bitter orange.[4][5][2]
  2. Apporter des oranges à quelqu'un: to visit someone in hospital or in prison.[4]
  3. (masculine) The colour orange: un orange vif.[4][5]
  4. (masculine) The amber of a traffic light: Le feu est passé à l'orange.[4][5]

Adjective

  1. Of the colour of an orange (invariable).[4][5][2]

Word family

  • orangeade
  • oranger
  • orangé
  • Persian نارنگ (nārang)
  • English orange

Usage notes

Fleur d'orange is an old name for orange blossom, now fleur d'oranger.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
  8. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  11. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Orange.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/orange. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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