"orange (colour)" in seven languages
Meaningorange (colour)
Spanish
/naˈɾanxa/
borrowed · Andalusi Arabic nāranja
Invariable as a colour: camisetas naranja; naranjado is rarer.
French
/ɔʁɑ̃ʒ/
borrowed · Old Italian or Occitan (n)arange, the n- lost; the o- probably influenced by or 'gold'
Invariable as a colour: des pulls orange.
Italian
/aranˈtʃone/
borrowed · arancio 'orange (fruit, tree)', from Arabic nāranj
The n- was taken for part of the article: una narancia → un'arancia.
Portuguese
/laˈɾɐ̃ʒɐ/
borrowed · Andalusi Arabic nāranja, the n- dissimilated to l-
Invariable as a colour: camisetas laranja.
Romanian
/portokaˈliw/
other source · portocală 'orange (fruit)', from Modern Greek portokáli 'the Portugal fruit'
Catalan
/təˈɾɔɲʒə/
borrowed · Andalusi Arabic nāranja; the t- is of disputed origin
Invariable as a colour: uns jerseis taronja.
English
/ˈɔɹɪndʒ/
from Latin/French · Old French orenge
The ancestor
Arabic nāranj (from Persian nārang)‘bitter orange’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
The fruit came first, the colour name later. French and Italian lost the n- by mis-cutting 'a norange' into 'an orange' — exactly what happened in English.
Learn it
In a sentence
- esEl atardecer se volvió naranja.
- frLe coucher de soleil est devenu orange.
- itIl tramonto è diventato arancione.
- ptO céu ficou laranja no pôr do sol.
- roCerul s-a făcut portocaliu la apus.
- caEl cel es va tornar taronja a la posta de sol.
- enThe sunset turned orange.