Orange (word)
Encyclopedia
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
.
It is widely claimed that the word orange has no true rhyme
. There are, however, half rhyme
s or near-rhymes, as well as some proper noun
s that rhyme with it. This lack of rhymes has inspired many humorous poems and songs.
from Old French and Anglo-Norman
orenge. 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. 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"). Although pume orenge is attested earlier than melarancio in available written sources, lexicographers
believe that the Italian word is actually older. The word ultimately derives from a Dravidian language—possibly Telugu
నారిఙ naarinja or Malayalam നാരങ്ങ naaranga or Tamil
நாரம் nāram—via Sanskrit "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
. 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
. 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.
word is a true rhyme for orange, though there are half rhymes such as hinge, lozenge, syringe, flange, Stonehenge
, or porridge. 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 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
.
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, led Arthur Guiterman
to quip in "Local Note":
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
.
Enjambment
can also provide for rhymes. One example is Willard Espy's poem, "The Unrhymable Word: Orange".
Another example by Tom Lehrer
relies on the way many Americans pronounce orange as /ɑrəndʒ/, as opposed to /orəndʒ/:
Nonce word
s 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
.
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
and an adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. In both cases, it refers primarily to the orange fruit
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
and the colour orange
Orange (colour)
The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nm, and has a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. It is numerically halfway between red and yellow in a gamma-compressed RGB colour space, the expression of which is the RGB colour wheel. The...
, but has many other derivative meanings.
The word derives from a Dravidian language, and it passed through numerous other languages including Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
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
Middle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
.
It is widely claimed that the word orange has no true rhyme
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
. There are, however, half rhyme
Half rhyme
Half rhyme or slant rhyme, sometimes called sprung, near rhyme, oblique rhyme, off rhyme or imperfect rhyme, is consonance on the final consonants of the words involved . Many half/slant rhymes are also eye rhymes.Half/slant rhyme is widely used in Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and Icelandic verse...
s or near-rhymes, as well as some proper noun
Proper noun
A proper noun or proper name is a noun representing a unique entity , as distinguished from a common noun, which represents a class of entities —for example, city, planet, person or corporation)...
s that rhyme with it. This lack of rhymes has inspired many humorous poems and songs.
Etymology
The word orange entered Middle EnglishMiddle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
from Old French and Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman language
Anglo-Norman is the name traditionally given to the kind of Old Norman used in England and to some extent elsewhere in the British Isles during the Anglo-Norman period....
orenge. 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. It is generally thought that Old French borrowed the Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
melarancio ("fruit of the orange tree", with mela "fruit") as pume orenge (with pume "fruit"). Although pume orenge is attested earlier than melarancio in available written sources, lexicographers
Lexicography
Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:*Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries....
believe that the Italian word is actually older. The word ultimately derives from a Dravidian language—possibly Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
నారిఙ naarinja or Malayalam നാരങ്ങ naaranga or Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
நாரம் nāram—via Sanskrit "orange tree", with borrowings through Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
نارنگ nārang and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
نارنج nāranj.
The place name Orange
Orange, Vaucluse
Orange is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.It has a primarily agricultural economy...
has a separate etymology. The Roman-Celtic settlement was founded in 36 or 35 BCE
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
and originally named Arausio, after a Celtic water god
Arausio (god)
Arausio was a local Celtic water god who gave his name to the town of Arausio in southern Gaul.Inscriptions attest to the presence of this presiding deity who gave the town its name....
. The Principality of Orange
Principality of Orange
The Principality of Orange was a feudal state in Provence, in the south of modern-day France, on the left bank of the River Rhone north of the city of Avignon....
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
House of Orange-Nassau
The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...
. The colour eventually came to be associated with Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
, due to participation by the House of Orange on the Protestant side in the French Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil infighting and military operations, primarily fought between French Catholics and Protestants . The conflict involved the factional disputes between the aristocratic houses of France, such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise...
and the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Eighty Years' War.
Rhyme
It is widely accepted that no single EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
word is a true rhyme for orange, though there are half rhymes such as hinge, lozenge, syringe, flange, Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
, or porridge. 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 the lack of rhyme for orange has garnered significant attention, and inspired many humorous verses
Light poetry
Light poetry, or light verse, is poetry that attempts to be humorous. Poems considered "light" are usually brief, and can be on a frivolous or serious subject, and often feature word play, including puns, adventurous rhyme and heavy alliteration...
.
Although sporange, a variant of sporangium
Sporangium
A sporangium is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. All plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life cycle...
, is an eye rhyme
Eye rhyme
Eye rhyme, also called visual rhyme and sight rhyme, is a similarity in spelling between words that are pronounced differently and hence, not an auditory rhyme...
for orange, it is not a true rhyme as its second syllable is pronounced with an unreduced vowel
Vowel reduction
In phonetics, vowel reduction is any of various changes in the acoustic quality of vowels, which are related to changes in stress, sonority, duration, loudness, articulation, or position in the word , and which are perceived as "weakening"...
[-ændʒ], and often stressed
Stress (linguistics)
In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense.The stress placed...
.
There are a number of proper nouns which rhyme or nearly rhyme with orange, including The Blorenge, a mountain in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and Gorringe, a surname
Surname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
. US Naval Commander Henry Honychurch Gorringe
Henry Honychurch Gorringe
Henry Honychurch Gorringe was a United States naval officer who attained national acclaim for successfully completing the removal of Cleopatra's needle from Alexandria, Egypt to Central Park, New York City.-Early life:...
, the captain of the USS Gettysburg
USS Gettysburg (1858)
The first USS Gettysburg was a steamer in the Union Navy.The ship was built in Glasgow, Scotland in 1858, named Douglas, and operated for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company between Liverpool, United Kingdom and Douglas on the Isle of Man until November 1862...
who discovered Gorringe Ridge
Gorringe Ridge
The Gorringe Ridge is a seamount in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located about 130 miles west of Portugal, between the Azores and the Strait of Gibraltar along the Azores-Gibraltar fault zone...
in 1875, led Arthur Guiterman
Arthur Guiterman
Arthur Guiterman was an American writer best known for his humorous poems.-Life and career:Guiterman was born of American parents in Vienna, graduated from the College of the City of New York in 1891, and was married in 1909 to Vida Lindo. He was an editor of the Woman's Home Companion and the...
to quip in "Local Note":
- In SparkillSparkill, New YorkSparkill, formerly known as Tappan Sloat, is an affluent, suburban hamlet in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Palisades; east of Tappan; south of Piermont and west of the Hudson River...
buried lies that man of mark - Who brought the Obelisk to Central ParkCentral ParkCentral Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, - Redoubtable Commander H.H. Gorringe,
- Whose name supplies the long-sought rhyme for "orange."
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
Walter William Skeat
Walter William Skeat , English philologist, was born in London on the 21st of November 1835, and educated at King's College School , Highgate School, and Christ's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in July 1860. His grandsons include the noted palaeographer T. C...
.
- 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.
Enjambment
Enjambment
Enjambment or enjambement is the breaking of a syntactic unit by the end of a line or between two verses. It is to be contrasted with end-stopping, where each linguistic unit corresponds with a single line, and caesura, in which the linguistic unit ends mid-line...
can also provide for rhymes. One example is Willard Espy's poem, "The Unrhymable Word: Orange".
- The four eng-
- ineers
- Wore orange
- brassieres.
Another example by Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer
Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater...
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.
Nonce word
Nonce word
A nonce word is a word used only "for the nonce"—to meet a need that is not expected to recur. Quark, for example, was formerly a nonce word in English, appearing only in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake. Murray Gell-Mann then adopted it to name a new class of subatomic particle...
s are sometimes contrived to rhyme with orange. Composers Charles Fox
Charles Fox (composer)
Charles Ira Fox is an American composer for film and television. His most heard compositions are probably the "love themes" , and the dramatic theme music to ABC's Wide World of Sports and the original Monday Night Football.....
and Norman Gimbel
Norman Gimbel
Norman Gimbel is an American lyricist of popular songs, television and movie themes whose writing career includes such titles as "Sway", "Canadian Sunset", "Summer Samba", "The Girl from Ipanema", "Killing Me Softly With His Song", "Meditation" and "I Will Wait for You", along with an Oscar for...
wrote the song "Oranges Poranges" to be sung by the Witchiepoo character on the television programme H.R. Pufnstuf
H.R. Pufnstuf
H.R. Pufnstuf was a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971...
.
- Oranges poranges, who says,
- oranges poranges, who says,
- oranges poranges, who says?
- there ain't no rhyme for oranges!
External links
- Orange Rhymez!, a website that finds half-rhymes for orange