Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
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Re: Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
#2Orange you glad that etymological histories are studied so in depth?
Re: Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
#3They left out the best part: The use of the word "redhead," for people with hair that is decidedly orange rather than red, predates the emergence of the color name "orange." Otherwise, they would presumably have been called "orangeheads."
Re: Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
#4Orange you glad that etymological histories are studied so in depth?
Thank you.
Re: Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
#5They left out the best part: The use of the word "redhead," for people with hair that is decidedly orange rather than red, predates the emergence of the color name "orange." Otherwise, they would presumably have been called "orangeheads."
Another factor there might be that "redhead" rolls off the tongue quite a bit better.
Re: Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
#6They left out the best part: The use of the word "redhead," for people with hair that is decidedly orange rather than red, predates the emergence of the color name "orange." Otherwise, they would presumably have been called "orangeheads."
Another factor there might be that "redhead" rolls off the tongue quite a bit better.
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Re: Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
#7"possibly derived from an even older Dravidian (another ancient language spoken in what is now southern India) root, naru, meaning fragrant. "
The Dravidian language referred here is Tamil. The fruit in the citrus family is called Narthangai. The unripe fruit makes a sour delicious pickle.
It's such a joy to hear a Tamil word used everyday around the globe.
Re: Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
#8I think this color survey from xkcd is very interesting
https://blog.xkcd.com/2010/05/03/color-survey-results/
Re: Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
#9Interestingly, in Dutch, the word is "Appelsien" according to Wikipedia, which seems quite unrelated to any word like "Orange" - this in a country where the royal family is called "House of Orange"?
Re: Color or Fruit? The Unlikely Etymology of “Orange”
#10Interestingly, in Dutch, the word is "Appelsien" according to Wikipedia, which seems quite unrelated to any word like "Orange" - this in a country where the royal family is called "House of Orange"?
This is from a tendency in Germanic languages (and maybe others) to call the orange a "Chinese apple".