Orange Fruit or Color: Which Came First?
The fruit came first, and the English word "orange" has made quite a journey to get here. The fruit originally came from China, and the English word "orange" ultimately comes from the Old Persian "narang". The word "orange" was first used to describe the tree that the fruit grows on, and its roots can be traced back to Sanskrit, where the word "nāranga" meant "orange tree". The words use as a color name didnt appear until the early 16th century, around 200 years after it was used to describe the fruit. Therefore, the fruit came before the color, and the English word "orange" to describe the color ultimately comes from the word used for the fruit.
