>
>
> On Sun, 29 Nov 1998 MaidnJynx@aol.com wrote:
>
> > Well yeah that is more than likely the reason, but why have something so
> > simple be the reason for anything? So lets all get together and write a story
> > ov the beginning origins ov the orange....why is it round? umm why is it
> > called an orange and why is it orange in color? would it be called an orange
> > if it were red?
>
> Actually, the name was used for the fruit first, then the color. In Old
> French the fruit was called "un norange", which became corrupted to "un
> orange"*, and the word was borrowed into English presumably along with the
> fruit, the color meaning being added later. I don't know what the common
> color term was for the color previously. I know the heraldic term for
> orange is "tenne'", also a word of French origin. It's possible that
> "gold" and/or "red" had broader territories in general usage. If the word
> "red" used to cover what we now call "orange", that would explain "red"
> hair. I also note that some African languages group the yellow-orange-red
> range as one color; In Jamaica, which is English-speaking but uses some
> terms and syntax of West African origin, egg yolks are referred to as
> being "red".
>
> *Other words that have gone through similar processes:
> "a newt" used to be "an ewt" (related to "eft")
> "an apron" used to be "a napron" (related to "napkin" and "napery")
>
> --Eva,
> your resident philologist
>
>
> "Ontology recapitulates philology"
>
>
And "cole slaw" translates into "cabbage salad" in Cajun (Arcadian)
French. Joe