What usage of the word "orange" came first, the fruit or the color?

Answer 1

Definitely the fruit. The same is true of other colors taken from the names of various fruits or plants: chestnut, plum, rose, etc...

In French, they even have a color they call "couleur caca d'oie" or "the color of goose poop".

Answer 2

Its really the fruit which came first with this same..

This can be inferred easily if you know the language TAMIL

In Tamil OR ANGE denotes OR+ANGE
in which OR in tamil means 6 (SIX)
ANGE means 5(FIVE)

if you check out in an orange you can find 6+5=11 parts

Hence we can deduce that ORange denotes the fruit first..

Hope u satisfied with this answer

Answer 3

Absolutely the FRUIT, or more specifically the TREE. There is some debate about the earliest roots of the word, but we can follow it quite far back.

See for instance:

"Middle English, from Old French pume orenge, translation and alteration (influenced by Orenge, Orange, a town in France) of Old Italian melarancio : mela, fruit + arancio, orange tree (alteration of Arabic nranj, from Persian nrang, from Sanskrit nraga, possibly of Dravidian origin)"

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dict.asp?Word=orange

compare, in more detail:

"Orange derives from Sanskrit nāraṅgaḥ "orange tree", but another explanation tries to establish a link to a Dravidian root “fragrant”. Compare Tamil narandam [நரந்தம்] “bitter orange”, nagarukam [நாகருகம்] “sweet orange” and nari [நாரி] “fragrance.

"The Sanskrit/Dravidian word was borrowed into European languages through Persian nārang, Armenian nārinj, 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 forms starting with n- are older; this initial n- may have been mistaken as part of the indefinite article, in languages with articles ending with an -n sound (e.g. in French une norenge may have been taken as une orenge). The name of the colour is derived from the fruit, first appearing in this sense in 1542."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_%28fruit%29#Etymology

Answer 4

Well they needed something to name the fruit, so I'm guessing the name came first.

Answer 5

The colour- the fruit has only been in the country for a reletively short time.

Answer 6

i presumed they were got here across jointly they named it orange after Dr. Havisson Orange and the coloration became first got here across on the orange and they named it Orange too. So an identical time.

Answer 7

I say the color because the tree of an orange tree is called Citrus sinensis

Answer 8

Probably the fruit.