c. 1300, in reference to the fruit, from Old French orange, orenge (12c., Modern French orange), from Medieval Latin pomum de orenge, from Italian arancia, originally narancia (Venetian naranza), alteration of Arabic naranj, from Persian narang, from Sanskrit naranga-s "orange tree," a word of uncertain origin.
Not used as a color word until 1540s (colors similar to modern orange in Middle English might be called citrine or saffron). Loss of initial n- probably is due to confusion with definite article (as in une narange, una narancia), but perhaps also influence of French or "gold." The name of the town of Orange in France perhaps was deformed by the name of the fruit. Orange juice is attested from 1723.
The tree's original range probably was northern India. The Persian orange, grown widely in southern Europe after its introduction in Italy 11c., was bitter; sweet oranges were brought to Europe 15c. from India by Portuguese traders and quickly displaced the bitter variety, but only Modern Greek still seems to distinguish the bitter (nerantzi) from the sweet (portokali "Portuguese") orange.
Portuguese, Spanish, Arab, and Dutch sailors planted citrus trees along trade routes to prevent scurvy. On his second voyage in 1493, Christopher Columbus brought the seeds of oranges, lemons and citrons to Haiti and the Caribbean. Introduced in Florida (along with lemons) in 1513 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. Introduced to Hawaii 1792.
"orange" 这个词有着丰富的历史和文化背景。它不仅仅描述了一种颜色，更多的时候，它代表的是一种水果。这个词的历史和词源非常引人注目，因为它经过了多个语言和文化才到达英语。
约在1300年时，该词首次用于描述这种水果。它来自 Old French 的 "orange" 或 "orenge"。这进一步追溯到中世纪的拉丁文 "pomum de orenge"，然后是意大利语 "arancia"。最初，这个词在意大利语中是 "narancia"（在威尼斯方言中是 "naranza"）。这是对阿拉伯语 "naranj" 的修改，而 "naranj" 则来自波斯语的 "narang"，进一步追溯则是梵文的nāraṅga，意为柑橘树的果实。
直到1540年代，"orange" 这个词才开始用作颜色名称。在中古英语中，类似于现代橙色的颜色可能被称为 "citrine" 或 "saffron"。起初的 "n-" 可能因与冠词混淆而丢失（如 "une narange" 或 "una narancia"），但也可能受到法语 "or"（意为“金色”）的影响。法国的 Orange 城镇的名字也可能因果实的名字而有所变形。
关于 "orange juice"（橙汁）的记载可以追溯到1723年。
这种水果最初可能产于印度北部。在11世纪引入意大利后，波斯橙（在南欧广泛种植）是苦的；甜橙是由葡萄牙商人在15世纪从印度带到欧洲的，并迅速取代了苦橙。但现代希腊语仍然区分苦橙和甜橙。
为了预防坏血病，葡萄牙、西班牙、阿拉伯和荷兰的船员沿着贸易路线种植了柑橘树。在1493年的第二次航行中，克里斯托弗·哥伦布将橙子、柠檬和香橼的种子带到了海地和加勒比海。1513年，西班牙探险家胡安·蓬塞·德莱昂将它们引入佛罗里达。1792年引入夏威夷。
"orange" 这个词不仅仅代表了一种颜色和水果，它的历史和文化演变也揭示了贸易、探险和人类互动的深远影响。