Orange (word)
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- This article describes historical and rhyming features of the word "orange". For a list of meanings of the word, see orange.
Before the English-speaking world was exposed to the fruit, the color was referred to as geoluhread in Old English, which translates roughly into Modern English as yellow-red (pronounced the same).
Etymology
Orange derives from Sanskrit nāraṅgaḥ "orange tree", with borrowings through Persian nārang, Arabic nāranj, Spanish naranja, Late Latin arangia, Italian arancia or arancio, and Old French orenge, in chronological order. The first appearance in English dates from the 14th century. The name of the color is derived from the fruit, first appearing in this sense in the 16th century.
Multiple sources conjecture that the Sanskrit word itself derives from an unknown Dravidian source, based on the historical spread of oranges through the world (cf. Tamil 'nram', Tulu 'nregi').
There is disagreement as to whether the Old French borrowed the Italian melarancio (with mela "fruit", i.e. melarancio "fruit of the orange tree") as pume orenge (with pume "fruit") (deMause, 1998), or whether it borrowed Arabic nāranj, with no intermediate step (AHD, 2000). In any case, the initial n was lost before the word entered English.
The French shift from arenge to orenge may have been influenced by the French word or (gold) — in reference to the color of oranges — or by the name of Orange, France, a major distribution point of oranges to northern regions. The name of the village did not derive from the word: in Old Provençal, it was known as Aurenja, with the initial sound later shifting (McPhee, 1975) (the original Roman name of the village was Arausio and came from a Celtic water god). The village name and fruit name thus converged coincidentally, one becoming associated with the other.
Later, the sovereign principality of Orange was the property of the House of Orange (later House of Orange-Nassau), which adopted both fruit and color (already associated with the principality) as its symbols. Many things were in turn named after this royal House, which is the present ruling monarchy of the Netherlands.
In Dutch the fruit is known as Sinaasappel or Appelsien (both derived from "Chinese apples"), and words similar to Appelsien are found in a number of Germanic, Slavic, and Ural-Altaic languages. A few other Slavic languages use words derived from Latin "Pomus aurantium", which similarly meant "Golden apples" -- as did the Ancient Greek term, Chrisomilia. The modern Hebrew "Tapuah Zahav" also means "Golden Apple" but can be shortened to "Tapuz". Modern Greek, and many languages of the Middle East -- from Ethiopia to Azerbaijan to Romania -- use words derived from the country name "Portugal", at one time the major source of imported oranges in the Middle East. See this [comprehensive discussion about the etymology of the word "Orange" in various languages.]
Rhyme
Orange is notable as one of the most common words in English that does not rhyme with any other word. The closest "real" approximation is door-hinge, although torn hinge, or inch, a wrench, and flange [link] have also been suggested.
Some made-up words have rhymed with orange:
- grorange — a blend of green and the color orange (found in a Mario Brothers novel)
- korange — a hypothetical hybrid of the orange and the kumquat
- borange — "rubbish", "of poor quality" (a coinage of comedian Ross Noble on the Triple J Ross & Terri show).
- atgrynge — the plural of "atgry" , an alternative name for the commercial at symbol (@) .
- Eating an orange
- While making love
- Makes for bizarre enj-
- oyment thereof.
- The four eng-
- ineers
- Wore orange
- brassieres.
- In Sparkill buried lies that man of mark
- Who brought the Obelisk to Central Park,
- Redoubtable Commander H.H. Gorringe,
- Whose name supplies the long-sought rhyme for "orange."
- I know a girl who reminds me of Cher
- She's always changing the color of her hair
- She don't use nothing that ya buy at the store
- She likes her hair to be real orange
- She uses tangerines
The rapper Eminem has partially rhymed "orange" in several songs:
- In "Business":
- :Set to blow college dorm rooms doors off the hinges
- :oranges, peach, pears, plums, syringes
- In "Cum on Everybody":
- :I got a wardrobe with an orange robe
- :I'm in the fourth row, signin' autographs before the show
- In "Role Model":
- :Some people only see that I'm white, ignorin' skill
- :cause I stick out like a green hat with in orange bill
A children's rhyme from Mother Goose features a rhyme with orange as part of a solution for another tricky word, porringer:
- What is the rhyme for porringer?
- The king he had a daughter fair
- And give the Prince of Orange her.
- What is pink? a rose is pink
- By the fountain's brink.
- What is red? a poppy's red
- In its barley bed.
- What is orange? why, an orange,
- Just an orange!
In the computer game The Curse of Monkey Island the protagonist is annoyed by some pirates who keep making up rhymes to every sentence he says. He finally says to them "We'll surely avoid scurvy if we all eat an orange", which forces them to relent.
It has been argued by certain individuals that the word "lozenge" is in fact a rhyme of orange. Although some rhymes have been successfully created by the combination of two word sets like "door henge."
References
- John McPhee (1975). Oranges. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-51297-3.
- Neil deMause (April 8, 1998). [The Mavens' Word of the Day].
- AHD (2000). [The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition, entry: orange].
See also
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