Is an orange called orange because its orange or....?

Question

Is the color orange... because it is the color of an orange?

Answer 1

Orange, the fruit:
Orange—specifically, sweet orange—refers to the citrus tree Citrus sinensis and its fruit. The orange is a hybrid of ancient cultivated origin, possibly between pomelo (Citrus maxima) and tangerine (Citrus reticulata). It is a small tree, growing to about 10 m tall, with thorny shoots and evergreen leaves 4-10 cm long.

The word "orange" ultimately comes from Sanskrit narang. Oranges originated in southeast Asia, in either India, Pakistan, Vietnam or southern China. The fruit of Citrus sinensis is called sweet orange to distinguish it from Citrus aurantium, the bitter orange. In a number of languages, it is known as a "Chinese apple" (eg. Dutch Sinaasappel (China's apple)).

Orange, the color:
The color orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nanometres. It is a pure chroma on the color wheel.
Before the orange fruit was introduced to the English-speaking world, the color was referred to (in Old English) as geoluhread, which translates into Modern English variously as yellow-red, yellowred, or yellored (all pronounced the same).

So, there's your answer, the color orange is called orange because of the fruit, the orange.

Answer 2

Fruit then color! Wikipedia says that the name of the color is derived from the fruit, first appearing in this sense in the 16th century. Orange derives from Sanskrit nāraga "orange tree", with borrowings through Persian nārang, 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.

Answer 3

The original name of the orange was pjekoki noni but was difficult to translate into English. Professor Nerwin Brunish McMasters, Bubba to his friends, changed the name to orange after his eldest daughter. She had been named orange because he could not explain the color of her hair as it was neither black or blond. It was copperish color (another dissertation) so obviously, he could not call it red. That's about all I know about the pjekoki noni.

Answer 4

The Latin name for Oranges and Grapefruits alike is

Citrus paradisi

So I do believe knowing that, it is safe to surmise it was named after its vibrant orange color.

Answer 5

I would think that the fruit name was always orange and the color was named after the fruit. I would think they would have named banana's yellow right?

Answer 6

Is it still called an orange when it is green? Now you've given me food for thought.
By the way, in Spanish the color is called "anaranjado", which means "like an orange".
"Rosado" is "like a rose", "celeste" is "like the sky". Hmmmm!

Answer 7

Hmmmm, good question. I am guessing the color is named after the fruit, colors often get their names from something of that color, ie sky blue.