Geek Trivia

Which Color Name Was Introduced To The English Language Via Plant?

The Top Grossing Holiday Film Of All Time Is?
Oranges and orange juice, sitting on a white table

Answer: Orange

Once upon a time in an England far removed from the present, Englishmen were for want of a specific word to describe what we now call “orange”. What we would now casually refer to as orange in color they called, depending on its shade, a variety of different compound Old English words including ġeolurēad (yellow-red) to describe reddish orange, or ġeolucrog (yellow-saffron) to describe yellowish-orange.

It was only when they were introduced to the fruit by the French, which was called “orange” in the Old French of the day, did the word enter into the English language to give that particular shade of yellowish-red a distinct name. The first recorded instance of “orange” as a color designation in the English language was in 1512.