orange definition

English orange definition

Etymology

From Middle English orenge, orange, from Old French pome orenge (“fruit orange”), influenced by Old Occitan auranja and calqued from Old Italian melarancio, melarancia, compound of mela (“apple”) and (n)arancia (“orange”), from Arabic نَارَنْج‎ (nāranj), from Persian نارنگ‎ (nârang), from Sanskrit नारङ्ग (nāraṅga, “orange tree”), from Dravidian (compare Tamil நார்த்தங்காய் (nārttaṅkāy), compound of நரந்தம் (narantam, “fragrance”) and காய் (kāy, “fruit”); also Telugu నారంగము (nāraṅgamu), Malayalam നാരങ്ങ (nāraṅṅa), Kannada ನಾರಂಗಿ (nāraṅgi)).

For other similar cases of the incorrect division (or, elision/rebracketing) of the above Italian word, but in English, see Category:English rebracketings.

For the color sense, see Old English ġeolurēad (literally “yellow-red”); compare English blue-green.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ŏrʹĭnj, -ĭnzh, IPA^(key): /ˈɒɹɨn(d)ʒ/
• (US, East Coast) enPR: ärʹĭnj, ŏrʹĭnj, IPA^(key): /ˈɑɹɪ̈nd͡ʒ/, /ˈɒɹ-/
• (General American, Canada) enPR: ôrʹĭnj, IPA^(key): /ˈɔɹɪ̈nd͡ʒ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɹ(ɪ)nd͡ʒ/, /ˈɔɹənt͡ʃ/

• Audio (UK) [ˈɔɹɪnd͡ʒ]

  (file)

• Audio (CA) [ˈɔɹənd͡ʒ]

  (file)

• Homophone: Orange
• Rhymes: -ɒɹɪndʒ
• Hyphenation: or‧ange, orange

Noun

orange (countable and uncountable, plural oranges)

1. (countable) An evergreen tree of the genus Citrus such as Citrus sinensis.

   • Evergreen definition

     Of plants, especially trees, that do not shed their leaves seasonally. (1 of 5 evergreen definitions)

   • Tree definition

     A perennial woody plant, not exactly defined, but differentiated from a shrub by its larger size (typically over a few meters in height) or growth habit, usually having a single (or few) main axis or trunk unbranched for some distance above the ground and a head of branches and foliage. (1 of 16 tree definitions)

   • Citrus definition

     A taxonomic genus within the family Rutaceae – many trees bearing citrus fruits, such as oranges and lemons.

   • Citrus Sinensis definition

     A taxonomic species within the family Rutaceae – the sweet orange or orange.
2. (countable) The fruit of the orange tree; a citrus fruit with a slightly sour flavour.

   • Fruit definition

     In general, a product of plant growth useful to man or animals. (1 of 9 fruit definitions)

   • Citrus Fruit definition

     Any of the fruits in the common genus Citrus of flowering plants in the family Rutaceae.

   • Sour definition

     Having an acidic, sharp or tangy taste. (1 of 8 sour definitions)
3. The colour of a ripe fruit of an orange tree, midway between red and yellow.

   orange:  

   Synonym: yellowred (uncommon)

   • Colour definition

     Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Britain standard spelling of color.

   • Yellowred definition

     Alternative form of yellow-red
4. Various drinks:
   1. (uncountable) Orange juice.
   2. (uncountable) An orange-coloured and orange-flavoured cordial.
   3. (uncountable) An orange-coloured and orange-flavoured soft drink.

   • Cordial definition

     Hearty; sincere; warm; affectionate. (1 of 4 cordial definitions)

   • Soft Drink definition

     Any carbonated, usually sweet, non-alcoholic drink. (1 of 2 soft drink definitions)

Usage notes

• It is commonly stated that “orange” has no rhymes. While there are no commonly used English dictionary words that rhyme exactly with “orange” (“door-hinge” comes close in US pronunciation), the English surname Gorringe is a rhyme, at least in UK pronunciation. See the Wikipedia article about rhymes for the word “orange”

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Esperanto: oranĝo
• → Japanese: オレンジ (orenji)
• → Korean: 오렌지 (orenji)
• → Malay: oren
• → Marshallese: oran

Translations

Adjective

orange (comparative oranger or more orange, superlative orangest or most orange)

1. Having the colour of the fruit of an orange tree; yellowred; reddish-yellow.

Antonyms

• (having orange as its colour): nonorange

Translations

Verb

orange (third-person singular simple present oranges, present participle oranging, simple past and past participle oranged)

1. (transitive) To color orange.
   • 1986, Gilles Deleuze, Cinema: The movement-image, page 118:

     It is this composition which reaches a colourist perfection in Le Bonheur with the complementarity of violet, purple and oranged gold

   • 1987, Harold Keith, Rifles for Watie, page 256:

     Jeff winked his eyes sleepily open and looked out into the cool flush of early morning. The east was oranged over with daybreak.

   • 2009, Suzanne Crowley, The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous, page 117:

     I looked at him through my binoculars, his little lips oranged with Cheeto dust.

2. (intransitive) To become orange.
   • 2007, Terézia Mora, Day in day out, page 296:

     Cranes in the distance against the background of the slowly oranging sky

   • 2008, Wanda Coleman, (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 14:

     It will be followed by a disappearance of the cash I had hidden in a sealed envelope behind the oranging Modigliani print over the living room couch.

   • 2010, Justin Cronin, The Passage, page 330:

     "What about his eyes?" / "Nothing. No oranging at all, from what I could see.

See also

References

• orange on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Gorean, Ragone, groane, onager

French orange definition

Etymology

Short form of late Old French pume orenge or pomme d'orenge, which was calqued after Old Italian melarancia (mela + arancia). The o came into the word under influence of the place name Orange, from where these fruits came to the north. See orange (English).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.ʁɑ̃ʒ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑ̃ʒ
• Homophone: oranges

Noun

orange f (plural oranges)

1. orange (fruit)

   Il pressa l’orange afin d’en extraire du jus.

   He squeezed the orange to extract juice from it.

   • Orange definition

     An evergreen tree of the genus Citrus such as Citrus sinensis. (1 of 7 orange definitions)

Descendants

• → Breton: orañjez
• → Belarusian: ара́нжавы (aránžavy)
• → Bulgarian: ора́нжев (oránžev)
• → German: Orange
• → Latvian: oranžs
• → Low German: Orange
• → Luxembourgish: Orange
• → Norwegian: oransje
• → Romanian: oranj
• → Russian: ора́нжевый (oránževyj)
• → Swedish: orange

Noun

orange m (plural oranges)

1. orange (color)

Derived terms

• oranger
• Orangina

Adjective

orange (invariable)

1. orange

   Les premiers TGV atlantiques étaient orange.

   The first Atlantic TGV trains were orange.

Usage notes

While theoretically the adjective orange is invariable, being (originally) a colour name derived from a noun, the nonstandard plural oranges is in use.

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

• “orange” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• onagre, organe, rongea

German orange definition

Etymology

From the noun Orange (“orange fruit”), from French orange.

Pronunciation

• (predicative only) IPA^(key): /oˈʁãːʃ/, /oˈʁaŋʃ/, /oˈʁɔ̃ːʃ/, /oˈʁɔŋʃ/
• (non-predicative feminine and plural forms) IPA^(key): /oˈʁãːʒə/, /oˈʁaŋʒə/, /oˈʁɔ̃ːʒə/, /oˈʁɔŋʒə/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

orange (comparative oranger or orangener, superlative am orangesten or am orangensten)

1. orange

Usage notes

• The adjective has two sets of forms. In the formal standard language, endings are added directly to the stem (orang-). In less formal style and in the vernacular, another set of forms is used in free variation, in which an -n- is infixed before the endings.
• It is also officially correct to leave the adjective entirely undeclined. This usage is rare, however, and seems dated.

Declension

Standard forms

Colloquial forms

Further reading

• “orange” in Duden online

Luxembourgish orange definition

Etymology

Borrowed from French orange.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oˈʁɑ̃ːʃ/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

orange (masculine orangen, neuter oranget, comparative méi orange, superlative am orangesten)

1. orange

Declension

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

See also

Middle English orange definition

Noun

orange

1. Alternative form of orenge

   • Orenge definition

     orange (orange-coloured citrus fruit) (1 of 2 orenge definitions)

Norman orange definition

Alternative forms

• oraunge (Cotentin)

Etymology

From Old French.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Jersey)

  (file)

Adjective

orange m or f

1. (Jersey, Guernsey) orange

Swedish orange definition

Etymology

Borrowed from French orange. See English orange.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊˈranɕ/, /ʊˈraŋɧ/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

orange

1. orange

   Hon har långt, orange hår.

   She has long, orange hair.

Declension

Less common:

Noun

orange ?

1. orange (color)