Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several evergreen trees of the genus Citrus of Southeast Asia, widely cultivated in warm regions and having fragrant white flowers and round fruit with a yellowish or reddish rind and a sectioned, pulpy interior, especially the sweet orange and the bitter orange.
- noun The fruit of any of these trees, having a sweetish, acidic juice.
- noun Any of several similar plants, such as the Osage orange and the mock orange.
- noun The hue of that portion of the visible spectrum lying between red and yellow, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 590 to 630 nanometers; any of a group of colors between red and yellow in hue, of medium lightness and moderate saturation.
- adjective Of the color orange.
- adjective Made from oranges.
- adjective Tasting or smelling like oranges.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of or pertaining to the principality of Orange in France, or the line of princes named from it: often with special reference to William III. of England, Prince of Orange, who was regarded as the champion of Protestantism against Louis XIV. on the continent, and against James II. in Ireland.
- Of or pertaining to the Society of Orangemen, or Orangeism: as, an Orange lodge; an Orange emblem. See
Orangeman . - noun A mordant acid coal-tar color of the monoazo type prepared by combining diazotized para-nitraniline with salicylic acid. Also called
alizarin yellow R . - noun Same as
orange T . - noun The fruit of the orange-tree, a large globose berry of eight or ten membranous cells, each containing several seeds which are packed in a pulp of fusiform vesicles, distended with an acidulous refreshing juice.
- noun A rather low branching evergreen fruit-tree, Citrus Aurantium, with greenish-brown bark, elliptical or ovate coriaceous leaves, the petiole often winged, and fragrant white flowers.
- noun A reddish-yellow color, of which the orange is the type.
- noun In heraldry, a roundel tenné. See
roundel . - noun The Carolina cherry-laurel, Prunus Caroliniana. It is a small tree with glossy coriaceous leaves, wild and cultivated for ornament in the southern United States. Its foliage, bark, and fruit contain prussic acid, and the leaves are often fatal to animals browsing upon them. Also called
mock-orange and wild peach. - noun See
toothache-tree . - Of or belonging to an orange; specifically, being of the reddish-yellow color of the orange.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to an orange; of the color of an orange; reddish yellow.
- noun The fruit of a tree of the genus Citrus (
Citrus Aurantium ). It is usually round, and consists of pulpy carpels, commonly ten in number, inclosed in a leathery rind, which is easily separable, and is reddish yellow when ripe. - noun (Bot.) The tree that bears oranges; the orange tree.
- noun The color of an orange; reddish yellow.
- noun See
Mandarin . - noun (Bot.) any species of shrubs of the genus Philadelphus, which have whitish and often fragrant blossoms.
- noun (Bot.) an Australian shrub (
Citriobatus parviflorus ); also, its edible yellow berries. - noun (Zoöl.) a tanager of Jamaica (
Tanagra zena ); -- so called from its bright orange breast. - noun (Zoöl.) a large, handsome cowry (
Cypræa aurantia ), highly valued by collectors of shells on account of its rarity. - noun (Bot.) an inconspicuous annual American plant (
Hypericum Sarothra ), having minute, deep yellow flowers. - noun (Chem.) an oily, terpenelike substance obtained from orange rind, and distinct from neroli oil, which is obtained from the flowers.
- noun a kind of black tea.
- noun an orange-colored apple with acid flavor.
- noun the orangelike fruit of a shrubby species of nightshade (
Solanum Quitoense ), native in Quito. - noun (Zoöl.) any species of scale insects which infests orange trees; especially, the purple scale (
Mytilaspis citricola ), the long scale (Mytilaspis Gloveri ), and the red scale (Aspidiotus Aurantii ).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
evergreen tree of the genusCitrus such asCitrus aurantium . - noun The
fruit of an orange tree; acitrus fruit with a slightlysour flavour. - noun The
colour of a ripe orange (the fruit); a color midway between red and yellow. - adjective Having the
colour of the fruit of an orange tree;yellowred ; reddish-yellow. - verb transitive To color orange.
- verb intransitive To become orange.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any citrus tree bearing oranges
- noun a river in South Africa that flows generally westward to the Atlantic Ocean
- noun round yellow to orange fruit of any of several citrus trees
- noun any pigment producing the orange color
- adjective of the color between red and yellow; similar to the color of a ripe orange
- noun orange color or pigment; any of a range of colors between red and yellow
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word orange.
Examples
-
When I say _this orange, yonder orange, one orange_, the words _this, yonder_, and _one_ do not tell the kind, but simply point out or number the orange, and limit the application of the word to the orange pointed out or numbered.
Graded Lessons in English an Elementary English Grammar Consisting of One Hundred Practical Lessons, Carefully Graded and Adapted to the Class-Room Brainerd Kellogg
-
When I say _this orange, yonder orange, one orange_, the words _this, yonder_, and _one_ do not tell the kind, but simply point out or number the orange, and limit the application of the word to the orange pointed out or numbered.
Graded Lessons in English an Elementary English Grammar Consisting of One Hundred Practical Lessons, Carefully Graded and Adapted to the Class-Room Brainerd Kellogg
-
When I say _this orange, yonder orange, one orange_, the words _this, yonder_, and _one_ do not tell the kind, but simply point out or number the orange, and limit the application of the word to the orange pointed out or numbered.
Graded Lessons in English an Elementary English Grammar Consisting of One Hundred Practical Lessons, Carefully Graded and Adapted to the Class-Room Brainerd Kellogg
-
The word orange comes from the Sanskrit word naranga, meaning “peach,” which of course is itself a color.
Zolar’s Magick Of Color Simon 1994
-
The word orange comes from the Sanskrit word naranga, meaning “peach,” which of course is itself a color.
Zolar’s Magick Of Color Simon 1994
-
The word orange comes from the Sanskrit word naranga, meaning “peach,” which of course is itself a color.
Zolar’s Magick Of Color Simon 1994
-
The word orange comes from the Sanskrit word naranga, meaning “peach,” which of course is itself a color.
Zolar’s Magick Of Color Simon 1994
-
Andre Debose, in orange, is all smiles with his family after signing his letter of intent to play for Florida.
Breaking down how the poll's Top 25 fared in recruiting 2009
-
At the bottom of the list, picked out in orange, is the 370Z's time and, oh my goodness … the Nissan is the fastest at just 5.5 seconds.
Car review: Nissan 370Z Martin Love 2010
-
This may have arisen, not merely from their paucity, but from the unsettled signification of the term orange, as well as from improperly calling these pigments reds, yellows, &c. In these days, however, orange pigments are sufficiently numerous to merit a chapter to themselves; they indeed comprise some of the best colours on the palette.
Field's Chromatography or Treatise on Colours and Pigments as Used by Artists George Field
harveythechainsaw commented on the word orange
Orange rhymes with no other word.
May 31, 2007
seanahan commented on the word orange
I was playing the improv warm-up game "did you say" once, and I said, "his shirt was red", at which point someone said "Did you say red?", and in my haste, I responded, "No, I said orange", at which point about 6 people said "Did you say orange?", and I was screwed.
June 1, 2007
kewpid commented on the word orange
blancmange?
November 6, 2007
bilby commented on the word orange
Someone called John Field is responsible for this limerick:
There once was a man of Fort Orange
Who longed to make rhymes using orange.
But he quit in despair,
And hung himself in mid-air,
Where he swings to and fro like a door 'inge.
November 25, 2007
brewdog commented on the word orange
ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French orenge (in the phrase pomme d'orenge), based on Arabic n�?ranj, from Persian n�?rang.
November 29, 2007
whichbe commented on the word orange
Words that (kind of) rhyme with orange: syringe, citrange, range, derange
May 7, 2008
littleclaw commented on the word orange
William of Orange
July 8, 2008
sabrinna commented on the word orange
Hmm. Are there any other words, like orange, that don't rhyme with anything else?
July 7, 2009
gangerh commented on the word orange
Else?
July 7, 2009
fbharjo commented on the word orange
Orange (Eng.); Orange (Fr.); Naranja (Sp.); Arancia (It.)
Interestingly, none of these terms come from the Latin word for orange, citrus aurentium; instead, they all come from the ancient Sanskrit naga ranga, which literally means "fatal indigestion for elephants." In certain traditions the orange, not the apple, is the fruit responsible for original sin. There was an ancient Malay fable--which made its way into the Sanskrit tongue around the Seventh or Eighth Centuries B.C.--that links the orange to the sin of gluttony and has an elephant as the culprit. Apparently, one day an elephant was passing through the forest, when he found a tree unknown to him in a clearing, bowed downward by its weight of beautiful, tempting oranges; as a result, the elephant ate so many that he burst. Many years later a man stumbled upon the scene and noticed the fossilized remains of the elephant with many orange trees growing from what had been its stomach. The man then exclaimed, "Amazing! What a naga ranga (fatal indigestion for elephants)!" ---http://www.westegg.com/etymology/
July 16, 2012
alexz commented on the word orange
Here's an 1869 book of Orange Poetry.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=8OlT81Z_ceoC
Uncle, can you find a rhyme for orange?
February 24, 2014
qms commented on the word orange
Thank you, Alexz. This book is clearly the work of an obsessive. Here I have been reproaching myself for profligacy. Compared to "Uncle" I am time's miser.
February 24, 2014
alexz commented on the word orange
With Blorenge and sporange , I suspect there will be some new poetry.
April 2, 2014