Orange (word)

The word orange is both a noun and an adjective in the English language. In both cases, it refers primarily to the orange fruit and the colour orange, but has many other derivative meanings.

The word derives from a Dravidian language, and it passed through numerous other languages including Sanskrit and Old French before reaching the English language. The earliest uses of the word in English refer to the fruit, and the colour was later named after the fruit. Before the English-speaking world was exposed to the fruit, the colour was referred to as geoluhread (yellow-red) in Old English and Middle English.^[1]

It is widely claimed that the word orange has no true rhyme. There are, however, half rhymes or near-rhymes, as well as some proper nouns that rhyme with it. This lack of rhymes has inspired many humorous poems and songs.

Etymology

The word orange entered Middle English from Old French and Anglo-Norman orenge.^[2] The earliest recorded use of the word in English is from the 13th century and referred to the fruit. The earliest attested use of the word in reference to the colour is from the 16th century.^[2] It is generally thought that Old French borrowed the Italian melarancio ("fruit of the orange tree", with mela "fruit") as pume orenge (with pume "fruit").^[3][4] Although pume orenge is attested earlier than melarancio in available written sources, lexicographers believe that the Italian word is actually older.^[5] The word ultimately derives from a Dravidian language—possibly Telugu నారిఙ‌ naarinja or Malayalam നാരങ്ങ‌ naaranga or Tamil நாரம் nāram—via Sanskrit नारङ्ग nāraṅgaḥ "orange tree", with borrowings through Persian نارنگ nārang and Arabic نارنج nāranj.

The place name Orange has a separate etymology. The Roman-Celtic settlement was founded in 36 or 35 BCE and originally named Arausio, after a Celtic water god.^[6] The Principality of Orange was named for this place and not for the colour. Some time after the sixteenth century, though, the colour orange was adopted as a symbol of the House of Orange-Nassau.^[7] The colour eventually came to be associated with Protestantism, due to participation by the House of Orange on the Protestant side in the French Wars of Religion and the Dutch Eighty Years' War.^[8]

Rhyme

It is widely accepted that no single English word is a true rhyme for orange, though there are half rhymes such as hinge, lozenge, syringe, flange, Stonehenge, or porridge.^[9] Despite the fact that this property is not unique to the word — one study of 5,411 one-syllable English words found 80 words with no rhymes^[10] — the lack of rhyme for orange has garnered significant attention, and inspired many humorous verses.

Although sporange, a variant of sporangium, is an eye rhyme for orange, it is not a true rhyme as its second syllable is pronounced with an unreduced vowel [-ændʒ], and often stressed.^[11]

There are a number of proper nouns which rhyme or nearly rhyme with orange, including The Blorenge, a mountain in Wales, and Gorringe, a surname. US Naval Commander Henry Honychurch Gorringe, the captain of the USS Gettysburg who discovered Gorringe Ridge in 1875,^[12] led Arthur Guiterman to quip in "Local Note":

In Sparkill buried lies that man of mark

Who brought the Obelisk to Central Park,

Redoubtable Commander H.H. Gorringe,

Whose name supplies the long-sought rhyme for "orange."^[13]

Compound words or phrases may give true or near rhymes in some accents. Examples include door-hinge, torn hinge, or inch, and a wrench. William Shepard Walsh attributes this verse featuring two multiple-word rhymes for orange to W.W. Skeat.

I gave my darling child a lemon,

That lately grew its fragrant stem on;

And next, to give her pleasure more range,

I offered her a juicy orange.

And nuts, she cracked them in the door-hinge.^[14]

Enjambment can also provide for rhymes. One example is Willard Espy's poem, "The Unrhymable Word: Orange".

The four eng-

ineers

Wore orange

brassieres.^[15]

Another example by Tom Lehrer relies on the way many Americans pronounce orange as /ɑrəndʒ/, as opposed to /orəndʒ/:

Eating an orange

While making love

Makes for bizarre enj-

oyment thereof.^[16]

Nonce words are sometimes contrived to rhyme with orange. Composers Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel wrote the song "Oranges Poranges" to be sung by the Witchiepoo character on the television programme H.R. Pufnstuf.

Oranges poranges, who says,

oranges poranges, who says,

oranges poranges, who says?

there ain't no rhyme for oranges!^[17]

See also

• Rhymes with Orange, a syndicated comic strip

References

1. ^ Kenner, T.A. (2006). Symbols and their hidden meanings. New York: Thunders Mouth. p. 11. ISBN 1560259493. 
2. ^ ^{a b} orange n.¹ and adj.¹ (March 2009) Oxford English Dictionary draft revision. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. ^ Word Histories and Mysteries: From Abracadabra to Zeus. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 2004. p. 201. ISBN 0618454500. 
4. ^ "orange". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 2000. ISBN 0395825172. 
5. ^ orange n. and adj. (June 2010) Oxford English Dictionary draft revision. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
6. ^ Bunson, Matthew (1995). A Dictionary of the Roman Empire. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. p. 23. ISBN 0195102339. 
7. ^ Brodsky, David (2008). Spanish Vocabulary: An Etymological Approach. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 257. ISBN 0292716680. 
8. ^ Ihalainen, Pasi (2005). Protestant Nations Redefined: Changing Perceptions of National Identity in the Rhetoric of the English, Dutch, and Swedish Public Churches, 1685-1772. Leiden and Boston: BRILL. p. 348. ISBN 9004144854. 
9. ^ Gorlée, Dinda L. (2005). Song and Significance: Virtues and Vices of Vocal Translation. Amsterdam: Rodopi. p. 199. ISBN 9042016876. 
10. ^ Lawler, John (2006). "The Data Fetishist’s Guide to Rime Coherence". Style 40 (1&2). 
11. ^ "sporange, n.". Oxford English Dictionary, second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1989. ISBN 0198611862. 
12. ^ "History of NOAA Ocean Exploration: The Breakthrough Years (1866-1922)". Oceanexplorer.noaa.gov. http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/history/timeline/timeline.html#breakthrough. Retrieved 2009-07-03. 
13. ^ Guiterman, Arthur (1936). Gaily the Troubadour. Boston: E.P. Dutton. OCLC 1395889. 
14. ^ Walsh, William Shepard (1892). Handy-book of Literary Curiosities. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott. OCLC 221721603. 
15. ^ Lederer, Richard (2003). A Man of my Words: Reflections on the English Language. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0312317859. 
16. ^ Lehrer, Tom (Jan 3 1982). "Tom Lehrer: Live & Off-color. In His Own Words: On Life, Lyrics and Liberals In His Own Words". Washington Post: p. E1. 
17. ^ "The World of Sid & Marty Krofft Fact Sheet". http://dt.prohosting.com/70s/childtv/krofft_facts.txt. Retrieved 2009-07-03. 

External links

• Orange Rhymez!, a website that finds half-rhymes for orange