Deeper Dive: orange
Or"ange
, a. Of or pertaining to an orange; of the color of an orange; reddish yellow; as, an orange ribbon.
Or"ange
(?), n. [F.; cf. It. arancia, arancio, LL. arangia, Sp. naranjia, Pg. laranja; all fr. Ar. nāranj, Per. nāranj, nārang; cf. Skr. nāranga orange tree. The o- in F. orange is due to confusion with or gold, L. aurum, because the orange resembles gold in color.]
1. The fruit of a tree of the genus Citrus (C. Aurantium). It is usually round, and consists of pulpy carpels, commonly ten in number, inclosed in a leathery rind, which is easily separable, and is reddish yellow when ripe.
☞ There are numerous varieties of oranges; as, the bitter orange, which is supposed to be the original stock; the navel orange, which has the rudiment of a second orange imbedded in the top of the fruit; the blood orange, with a reddish juice; and the horned orange, in which the carpels are partly separated.
2. (Bot.) The tree that bears oranges; the orange tree.
3. The color of an orange; reddish yellow.
Mandarin orange. See Mandarin. - - Mock orange (Bot.), any species of shrubs of the genus Philadelphus, which have whitish and often fragrant blossoms. -- Native orange, orOrange thorn (Bot.), an Australian shrub (Citriobatus parviflorus); also, its edible yellow berries. -- Orange bird (Zoöl.), a tanager of Jamaica (Tanagra zena); -- so called from its bright orange breast. -- Orange cowry(Zoöl.), a large, handsome cowry (Cypræa aurantia), highly valued by collectors of shells on account of its rarity. -- Orange grass (Bot.), an inconspicuous annual American plant (Hypericum Sarothra), having minute, deep yellow flowers. -- Orange oil (Chem.), an oily, terpenelike substance obtained from orange rind, and distinct from neroli oil, which is obtained from the flowers. -- Orange pekoe, a kind of black tea. -- Orange pippin, an orange-colored apple with acid flavor. -- Quito orange, the orangelike fruit of a shrubby species of nightshade (Solanum Quitoense), native in Quito. -- Orange scale (Zoöl.)any species of scale insects which infests orange trees; especially, the purple scale (Mytilaspis citricola), the long scale (M. Gloveri), and the red scale (Aspidiotus Aurantii).
-- Webster's unabridged 1913
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