Saturday, August 12, 2023

What does 'orange' mean?

 












The word orange didn't always mean the color orange. Meaning, the fruit came first.  This is from Word Genius, so now I feel smarter.  I hope you do too.

The Fruit or the Color: Which “Orange” Came First?

"The first mention of a naranga tree appears in a first-century CE Indian medical text, according to linguistic analysis and conversation on the podcast “The Allusionist.” This Sanskrit word originally meant “fruit like elephants” — possibly a reference to the tough, dimpled skin of the giant mammal feeling similar to the citrus fruit. The fruit itself, native to northern India, wasn’t originally described as “orange” in appearance, because no word for the color existed yet. The word for the fruit morphed into different variations as it moved through trading routes, including the Persian narang, the Spanish naranja, and the Sicilian arangia."



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