orange, n.1, a.
(ˈɒrɪndʒ)
Forms: 4–8 orenge, (6 orr-, -ndge, -(n)che, 7 oreng); 5– orange, (5 hor-, oronge, 6–7 -inge, 7 -ynge; 5 Sc. oreynze).
[ME. orenge, orange, a. OF. orenge (13th c.), orange, = It. narancia (Florio), now arancia (Venet. naranza, Milan. naranz), Sp. naranja, Pg. laranja, also med.Gr. νεράντζιον. The Sp. and Gr. are ad. Arabic nāranj, in Pers. nārang, nāring: cf. late Skr. nāraṅga, Hindī nārangī; also Pers. nār pomegranate.
The native country of the orange appears to have been the northern frontier of India, where wild oranges are still found, and the name may have originated there. The loss of initial n in Fr., Eng., and It. is usually ascribed to its absorption in the indef. article in une narange, una narancia. Med.L. had also the forms arangia, arantia (Du Cange), whence aurantia by popular association with aurum gold, from the colour. So perh. OF. orenge for arange, after or gold.]
A. n.
1. a. The fruit of a tree (see sense 2), a large globose many-celled berry (hesperidium) with sub-acid juicy pulp, enclosed in a tough rind externally of a bright reddish yellow (= orange) colour.
The common variety is variously called the China orange, coolie orange, Lisbon orange, Portugal orange, or sweet o.; the name China orange was especially common in 17–18th c. Other varieties or species are known as blood(-red) orange, Malta orange or Maltese o orange., a red-pulped variety; Jaffa orange or Joppa o., a lemon-shaped and very sweet kind; navel o., a nearly seedless variety from Brazil, etc., having the rudiment of a second fruit imbedded in its apex; clove orange (in Ogilvie 1882), noble orange, or mandarin o. = mandarin; tangerine o..: see tangerine. The fruit of the Citrus Bigaradia is called the bitter orange, horned orange, or Seville o.; and that of the C. Bergamia, bergamot o. or bergamot.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1044 As orenge & oþer fryt. a 1387 Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 15 Citrangulum pomum, orenge. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 647/40 Hoc masuclum, orange. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 371/1 Oronge, fruete. c 1490 Paston Lett. III. 364 Halfe a hondryd orrygys. 1497 in Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. (1877) I. 330 For bering of the appill oreynzeis..fra the schip. 1538 Turner Libellus, Malum medicum, an oreche. c 1550 Lloyd Treas. Health (1585) S j, The sede of Orenche. 1587 Golding De Mornay x. 141 The rinde of the Orrendge is hot, and the meate within it is cold. 1598 Epulario C ij, Take the iuice of an Oringe, or else Vergice. 1698 A. Brand Emb. Muscovy to China 87 Grapes, Apples..China-Oranges,..and other fruits. 1796 Stedman Surinam II. xxix. 375, I found a crystal phial filled with essential oil of orange..extracted from the rind or peel of the oranges. c 1830 Cries of York 18 Sweet China Oranges. St. Michael's Oranges I vend At one or two a penny. 1841 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) Pref. 48 In the 18th of Edward the first [1290] a large Spanish ship came to Portsmouth; out of the cargo of which the Queen bought..fifteen citrons and seven oranges [Poma de orenge]. 1866 Treas. Bot. 292 Oranges were unknown in Europe, or at all events in Italy, in the eleventh century, but were shortly afterwards carried westward by the Moors. Ibid., The Noble or Mandarin Orange is a small flattened and deep orange..it is exceedingly rich and sweet. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 179 The rind of the orange yields by distillation a fragrant oil much used in perfumery. |
b. Phrase:
to squeeze or suck an orange, to extract all the juice from it;
fig. to take all that is profitable out of anything.
| 1685 Gracian's Courtier's Orac. 4 So soon as the Orange is squeezed, it's thrown upon the ground. 1822 G. Canning in G. Canning & his Times 364 For fame, it is a squeezed orange; but for public good there is something to do. 1884 H. Smart From Post to Finish I. vii. 108 It is rather rough on the boy..to suddenly discover that his father had sucked the orange, and that he has merely inherited the skin. 1891 in Dixon Dict. Idiom. Eng. Phr., By this time Dibdin was a sucked orange; his brain was dry. |
c. oranges and lemons, a nursery game, in which a ditty beginning with these words is sung, and the players take sides according to their answer to the question ‘Which will you have, oranges or lemons?’.
| 1873 Young Englishwoman Mar. 154/2 Could you..give me the words in full of ‘Oranges and Lemons’; ‘I wrote a Letter to my Love’; ‘Kiss in the Ring’; and any other of the old games? 1887 E. D. Bourne Girls' Games 48. 1939 [see London bridge]. 1969 I. & P. Opie Children's Games viii. 236 Players..are invited to be an ‘orange’ or a ‘lemon’ in the game of ‘Oranges and Lemons’. |
d. absol. = Orange squash, orange juice.
| 1950 [see gin n.2 2 a]. 1968 T. Kinsella Nightwalker 45 A small jug of orange. 1972 Guardian 20 June 4/6 And so, back to fizzy orange and the ritual conference. 1977 N. Slater Crossfire iii. 60 ‘What can I get you?’ ‘Fresh orange. At least I can..set you an example.’ |
2. (More fully
orange-tree,
q.v.). An evergreen tree (
Citrus Aurantium), a native of the East, now largely cultivated in the South of Europe, the Azores, and in most warm, temperate, or subtropical regions; it produces fragrant white flowers, and the fruit mentioned in sense 1. (Also applied to allied species or subspecies, as
C. nobilis,
C. Bigaradia,
C. Bergamia: see 1.)
Otaheite orange, a hardy shrubby variety used as an ornamental plant and as a stock for dwarfing other varieties (
Cent. Dict. 1891).
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. (1621) 3 Groues of Oranges. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxv. (1794) 371 The Orange and Lemon may be distinguished by pointed leaves from the Shaddock. 1866 Treas. Bot. 292/1 It is said that St. Dominic planted an orange for the convent of St. Sabina in Rome, in the year 1200. 1886 G. Meredith Ball. Yng. Princess iv. i, The soft night-wind went laden to death With smell of the orange in flower. |
3. a. Applied, with qualifying word prefixed, to plants of various families, or their fruit, mostly from some apparent resemblance in flower or fruit to the orange-tree.
Jamaica orange, the fruit of the
Glycosmis citrifolia (
Treas. Bot. 1866);
native orange (
Australia), (
a) the orange-thorn (see
quot. 1889); (
b) the small native pomegranate,
Capparis mitchelli;
Quito orange, the berry of
Solanum Quitoënse, a species of nightshade, in colour, fragrance, and taste resembling an orange;
Sumatra orange,
Murraya sumatrana (Miller
Plant-n. 1884);
wild orange, (
a) of the West Indies,
Drypetes glauca (
Treas. Bot.); (
b) the Carolina cherry-laurel,
Prunus Carolina; (
c) an Australian rubiaceous timber-tree,
Canthium latifolium, also called wild lemon (Morris 1898). See also mock-orange,
Osage orange.
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 290/1 The plants [of the genus Citriobatus] are called the Native Orange and Orange Thorn by the Australian colonists. 1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants 12 ‘Small Native Pomegranate’, ‘Native Orange’..The fruit is from one to two inches in diameter, and the pulp, which has an agreeable perfume, is eaten by the natives. Ibid. 16 ‘Native Orange’, ‘Orange Thorn’. The fruit is an orange berry with a leathery skin, about one inch and a half in diameter... It is eaten by the aboriginals. |
b. Applied to varieties of apples or pears, resembling the orange in colour;
cf. orange-bergamot,
-musk,
-pear,
-pippin (see B. 2 c below).
| 1731–3 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Pyrus, The Villain of Anjou. It is also called..The Tulip Pear, and..The Great Orange. 1767 J. Abercrombie Ev. Man his own Gard. (1803) 673/1 Pears..Summer orange, Winter orange, Swiss bergamot. 1884 Pall Mall G. 15 Aug. 2/1 ‘Cox's orange pippin’ and ‘Blenheim orange’, are certain to repay liberally for careful cultivation. |
4. = sea orange, a large orange-coloured holothurian (
Lophothuria fabricii) of globose shape.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Orange, Sea Orange, in natural history, a name given by Count Marsigli to a very remarkable species of sea plant,..it is round and hollow, and in all respects resembles the shape of an orange. 1838 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) XVI. 518/1 The body of the orange, as it is called, is fastened by them [fine filaments] to the rock, or other solid substance. |
5. (More fully orange-colour.) The reddish-yellow colour of the orange; one of the so-called seven colours of the spectrum, occupying the region between red and yellow. Also, a pigment of this colour; usually, with defining words, as trade names for various shades, often indicating chemical origin, as
cadmium orange,
Chinese orange,
diphenylamina orange,
gold orange,
Mars orange,
zinc orange, etc.
| a 1600 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxiv. 66 O wareit orange! willed me to weir. 1776–96 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) IV. 327 Pileus frequently tinged with orange. 1832 Tennyson Mariana in South 26 Till all the crimson changed, and past Into deep orange o'er the sea. 1851 Mayne Reid Scalp Hunt. i. 10 Yonder the orange predominates in the showy flowers of the asclepia. |
6. Her. A roundel tenné (tawny-coloured).
| 1562 Leigh Armorie (1597) 88 The seuenth He beareth Argent, vij Orenges. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iv. xix. (1660) 352 If they [Roundles] be Tenne then we call them Orenges. 1727–41 in Chambers Cycl. 1868–82 in Cussans Her. iv. |
7. attrib. and
Comb. a. simple
attrib.: of an orange or oranges, as
orange-bloom,
orange-grove,
orange-juice,
orange kernel,
orange leaf,
orange-pip,
orange-plant,
orange-plantation,
orange-room,
orange salad,
orange-thicket,
orange-tribe,
orange-wood; employed or used in the orange trade, as
orange-box,
orange-chest,
orange-crate (also
fig.),
orange-girl,
orange-man,
orange-merchant,
orange-wench,
orange-wife,
orange-woman; flavoured with orange-juice or peel, as
orange bitters,
orange cream,
orange crush,
orange Cura{cced}ao,
orange-custard,
orange gravy,
orange-pudding,
orange sauce,
orange squash,
orange-wine.
b. objective or
obj. genitive, as
orange-grower,
orange-seller,
orange squeezer,
orange-throwing.
c. parasynthetic, as
orange-shaped adj.| c 1870 in H. W. Allen Number Three St. James's St. (1950) vii. 186/2 *Orange bitters. 1877 E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. of Table 328 Parfait Amour is made of the bitter zest of limes,..syrup,..spirit of roses, and..spicy odours. It is in fact a kind of orange bitters spoilt. 1958 A. L. Simon Dict. Wines 121/1 Orange bitters, the most popular form of bitters used for flavouring cocktails and other mixed drinks. It is made from the bitter Seville orange. 1977 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 6 June 63/2 (Advt.), Sherry..with a dash of orange bitters. |
| 1713 C'tess of Winchilsea Misc. Poems 16 The *Orange-bloom, that with such sweetness blows. |
| 1968 ‘J. Le Carré’ Small Town in Germany xiv. 229 An old lady dropped a two-Mark piece into an *orange-crate. 1972 L. Anderson Let. 20 June in Amer. Speech 1972 (1975) XLVII. 38 In pilots training, we called the planes..‘orange crates’. 1977 M. Kenyon Rapist ix. 107 [He] sat on an orange crate in the storeroom. |
| 1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confectioner's Dict. sig. L5 *Orange Cream. Take..Oranges, grate the Peels into..Water; beat..Eggs..sweeten..set it on the Fire, stir till it is as thick as Cream. 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 736 Orange cream... 1 oz of isinglass, 6 large oranges, 1 lemon, sugar to taste, water, ½ pint of good cream... Squeeze the juice from the oranges and lemon; [etc.]. 1939–40 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 31/2 Kia-Ora *Orange Crush—bot. 1/6. |
| 1952 [see crush n. 4 e]. 1973 D. May Laughter in Djakarta iii. 54 What was almost the national drink of the Indonesian middle classes, orange crush. |
| 1907 Yesterday's Shopping (1969) 100/2 *Cura{cced}ao..Orange..3/6. 1951 E. David French Country Cooking 27 Grand Marnier, Mirabelle and Orange Cura{cced}ao are particularly good for soufflés and for omelettes. 1965 House & Garden Dec. 90/2 Bols. This old-established Dutch firm covers almost every liqueur—best known for Kummel, Apricot and Orange Cura{cced}ao. 1977 Times 9 July 10/7 A little brandy..or orange cura{cced}ao may be added. |
| 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 256 To make *Orange Custards. |
| 1787 Sir J. Hawkins Life Johnson 195 One poet feigns, that the town is a sea, the playhouse a ship,..and the *orange-girls powder-monkies. 1842 Knickerbocker XX. 472 The orange-girl is generally allowed to enter [an auction-store], for auctioneers are mortal, and sometimes eat oranges. 1939 G. B. Shaw In Good King Charles's Golden Days i. 60, I never was an orange girl; but I have the gutter in my blood all right. 1963 M. Frayn in Sissons & French Age of Austerity 336 The orange-girls, dressed up as replica Nell Gwyns. |
| 1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery iii. 109 *Orange Gravy, For Wild Fowl. Boil.., in..Espagnole, half the rind of a Seville orange,..and a small strip of lemon-rind... Strain it off, add to it.. port or claret. 1877 Orange gravy [see bigarade]. |
| 1766 J. Bartram Jrnl. 30 Jan. in Stork Acc. E. Florida 56 We..encamped at a great *orange-grove. |
| 1877 E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. of Table 340 The present practice over the Continent is to stew them [sc. perch] in vinegar, fresh grape, *orange-juice, or other sour sauce. a 1901 C. M. Yonge Autobiogr. in C. Coleridge C. M. Yonge (1903) iii. 85, I did not like to eat orange juice out of a pewter spoon. 1960 F. Raphael Limits of Love i. i. 10 Think I'll have an orange juice. 1977 J. Archer Shall we tell President? x. 130 ‘An orange juice for me. I'm watching my weight.’ Doesn't he know that orange juice is the last thing to drink if you're dieting? |
| 1838 C. Gilman Recoll. Southern Matron iii. 25 An *orange leaf..was laid on every finger bowl. 1877 E. S. Ward Story of Avis 408 The splendor slept..upon the green pulses of the orange-leaves. 1880 G. W. Cable Grandissimes ii. 15 Perfumed ad nauseam with orange-leaf tea. |
| 1858 Punch 13 Mar. 103/1 There have bawled..in his street, sweeps, *orangemen, dustmen. |
| 1707 Lond. Gaz. No. 4344/4 Thomas Martin, late of London, *Orange-Merchant. |
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills I. 349 The *Orange-Miss, that here Cajoles the Duke. |
| 1821 Keats Isabella xvi, Fair *orange-mounts Were of more soft ascent than lazar stairs. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 885 It is impossible to understand how a cherry-stone or..an *orange-pip could enter the appendix. |
| 1729 Fenton in Waller's Wks. Observ. p. xlvi/2 When this Poem was written, the *orange-plantations of this island were in good repute. |
| 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 171 An *Orange-Pudding. Boil the rind of a Seville orange very soft [etc.]. |
| 1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery xxv. 629 *Orange Salad. Take off the outer rinds,..from some fine China oranges; slice them thin,..strew over them..white sifted sugar, and pour on them a glass or more of brandy. 1973 ‘I. Drummond’ Jaws of Watchdog ix. 123 Elaborate spreads of cold duck and orange salad. |
| 1867 Common Sense Cook Bk. 28 *Orange Sauce for Game. 1977 Vogue Feb. 114/3 Scallops in orange sauce. |
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 34/1 *Orange squash..Kia Ora..Schweppes'. 1936 Discovery June 192/1 Fruit Squashes..were analogous to the well-known orange and lemon squashes. 1975 J. McClure Snake iii. 42 A uniformed sergeant..was drinking orange squash..because he was on duty. |
| 1949 M. Mead Male & Female xii. 247 Idly turning the pages of a catalogue that shows the best type of *orange-squeezer. 1962 L. Deighton Ipcress File ii. 21 Stainless steel orange squeezers. |
| 1665 Pepys Diary 21 Feb., Mrs. Jenings..the other day dressed herself like an *orange wench. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 141 ¶7 A Poet..neglects the Boxes, to write to the Orange-Wenches. |
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. i. 78 A cause betweene an *Orendge wife, and a Forset-seller. |
| 1675 Phil. Trans. X. 256 Casks of *Orenge-wine. 1772 Hey ibid. LXII. 260 He drank a bottle of orange-wine in the course of this day. |
| 1678 Otway Friendship in F. iv. i, At the Play whisper it to the *orange-women. 1801 M. Edgeworth Good French Governess (1832) 108 Carts and wheel⁓barrows, and vulgar looking things, fit for orange-women's daughters. |
| 1884 G. W. Cable Dr. Sevier lvii. 437 He moved his *orange-wood staff an inch. 1889 Harper's Mag. Dec. 106/2 Strangers..were detained by eager vendors of flowers and orange-wood walking-sticks. 1910 Daily Chron. 23 Apr. 7/3 Dilute peroxide with one-half water and apply under nails with cotton on an orangewood stick. |
d. Special comb.:
orange-aphis, a black aphis (
Siphonophora citrifolii) that infests the orange-tree;
† orange-apple, an orange;
orange-bead, an orange-pip formed into a bead;
orange-berry, an immature orange;
orange-bird, a bird of Jamaica: see
quot.;
orange-brandy, brandy flavoured with orange-peel;
orange-butter (see
quot.);
orange-butterfly, a large black and white butterfly,
Papilio cresphontes, the larva of which feeds on the orange-tree;
orange-chip, a slice of orange-peel prepared for eating;
orange-dog, the larva of the orange-butterfly;
orange-fly, a name of several small flies, whose larvæ burrow in the orange;
orange-jelly, (
a) a jelly flavoured with orange-juice and orange-peel; (
b) a variety of swede turnip; (
c) popular name of a fungus,
Tremella mesenterica;
orange-maggot, the larva of the orange-fly;
orange-marmalade: see
marmalade n.;
orange-oil, the essential oil obtained from the rind of the orange;
orange-pea, a young unripe fruit of the cura{cced}oa or other orange, used as an issue pea and to flavour liqueurs;
orange-quarter, (
a) one of the natural divisions of an orange; (
b) a fourth part of an orange;
orange-scale, any scale-insect which infests the orange-tree;
esp. Aspidiotus aurantii (
Cent. Dict.);
orange-skin, (
a) orange-peel; (
b) an orange tint of the skin; (
c)
orange-skin surface, a name given to the slightly rough glaze of certain varieties of Oriental porcelain;
orange skin food, a type of moisturizer for the skin;
orange stick, a short stick,
usu. of orange-wood, used for manicuring the nails;
orange-strainer, a utensil for straining the juice of an orange.
| 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 35 Yalow as an *Orenge appel. |
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §962, I commend also Beads of Harts-Horne,..also *Orenge-Beads; also Beads of Lignum Aloes, Macerated first in Rose-water, and Dryed. |
| 1886 Guide Kew Mus. Econ. Bot. No. 1. 29 The small immature fruits which drop from the trees, when collected and dried, form the *Orange berries of pharmacy. |
| 1847 Gosse Birds Jamaica 231 Cashew-bird... About Spanish Town, it is called the *Orange-bird..from the resemblance of its plump and glowing breast to that beautiful fruit. 1894 Newton Dict. Birds, Orange-bird, a name in Jamaica for Spindalis (prop. Spindasis) nigricephala, wrongly identified..with Fringilla zena..one of the Tanagers. |
| 1700 Congreve Way of World iv. v, I banish all foreign forces, all auxiliaries to the tea-table, as *orange-brandy [etc.]. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 337 To make Orange Brandy. Pare eight oranges very thin, and steep the peels in a quart of brandy forty-eight hours in a close pitcher [etc.]. |
| 1706 Closet of Rarities (N.), The Dutch way to make *orange-butter.—Take new cream two gallons, beat it up to a thickness, then add half a pint of orange-flower water, and as much red wine, and so being become the thickness of butter, it retains both the colour and scent of an orange. |
| 1675 E. Wilson Spadacr. Dunelm. 80 He must eat some *Orange Chips. c 1730 Royal Remarks 52 Tea in the Boxes, and Orange-Chips 2s. 6d. 1769 [see chip n.1 2 b]. 1896 Cassell's Dict. Cookery, Orange Chips.—Take the rinds of some large oranges. Cut into quarters, and weigh them... Put the chips on a sieve in the sun. |
| 1890 J. P. Ballard Among Moths & Butterfl. 142 The common name in Florida for this caterpillar is ‘the *orange dog’, from a fancied resemblance of its most curious head to that animal. |
| 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 210 To make *Orange Jelly. Take half a pound of hartshorn shavings, and two quarts of spring water,..and the rind of three oranges pared very thin, and the juice of six. 1893 Times 11 July 4/1 Some of the following:—The late swede, hardy swede, the orange jelly, golden ball turnip,..or the grey stone turnip. |
| 1863–72 Watts Dict. Chem. I. 1003 Oil or Essence of Mandarin..has an agreeable odour, different from that of lemon or *orange-oil, and a not unpleasant taste, like that of orange-oil. |
| 1857 Mayne Expos. Lex., *Orange Peas, common name for issue peas, made from the Aurantia Curassaventia, or Curassoa apples or oranges when dried and hardened. |
| 1718 Mrs. Mary Eales's Receipts 98 Take it off the Fire, and put in your *Orange-Quarters. |
| 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 540 Epichrosis Aurigo. *Orange skin. |
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 492 An Elizabeth Arden treatment is based on..Cleansing..Toning..Nourishing, with *Orange Skin Food or the delicate Velva Cream. 1939–40 Ibid. 438/3 Seymour[,] Jane..Orange Skin Food—2/9. 1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax iii. 36 She slapped the Orange Skin Food on to her face. 1974 D. Gray Dead Give Away xv. 144 She now patted Elizabeth Arden's Orange Skin Food into her face. |
| 1911 H. S. Harrison Queed vii. 89 *Orange-stick in mouth, he went around like a museum guide. 1922 F. Courtenay Physical Beauty 46 You may use an orange stick..to push back the cuticle from the nails. 1966 [see cuticle 1 d]. |
| 1688 Lond. Gaz. No. 2316/4 A set of Casters, and an *Orange-Strainer, all of Silver. 1705 Ibid. No. 4154/4 A silver Orange-strainer. |
B. adj. 1. a. Of the colour of an orange (see A. 5).
Orig. an
attrib. use of the
n., as in
olive adj.; so in
quot. 1542, ‘orange hue’; but in 1620, ‘orange velvet’, an
adj. For the political or party use of the colour (
quots. 1723, 1849, 1884), see
Orange n.2 1 note.
| 1542 Inv. R. Wardr. (1815) 104 Item thrie peces of courtingis for the chepell of oringe hew. 1620 Unton Inv. 22 Two low stooles of black and oringe wrought velvett. 1723 B. Higgons Short View Eng. Hist. (1736) 350 His daughter Denmark [afterwards Queen Anne], with her great favourite (lady Churchill), both covered with Orange ribbands,..went triumphant to the playhouse. 1799 Wordsw. Infl. Nat. Objects 46 In the west The orange sky of evening died away. 1831 Brewster Optics vii. 72 We have therefore, by absorption, decomposed..orange light into yellow and red. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. (1856) II. 530 The whole High Street [of Oxford, in 1688] was gay with orange ribands. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 813/1 (Orangemen), The orange flowers of the Lilium bulbiferum are worn in Ulster on the 1st and 12th July, the anniversaries of the Boyne and Aughrim. |
b. spec. Applied to a variety of opal.
| 1902 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 494/1 The miners..say, one stroke of the pick may lay bare a seam of ‘pin-fire’ opal or break in two a rich band of ‘orange’. 1971 J. S. Gunn Opal Terminol. 32 Orange, name given to opal with this distinctive colour. |
2. Combinations.
a. With other
adjs. of colour, expressing modification by orange, as
orange-brown,
orange-buff,
orange-chestnut,
orange-cinnamon,
orange-cream,
orange-crimson,
orange-fiery,
orange-flesh,
orange-gold,
orange-pink,
orange-rufous,
orange-scarlet,
orange vermilion adjs. (
ns.); also in names of pigments, as
orange-chrome,
orange-lake,
orange-lead.
b. parasynthetic, as
orange-flowered (having orange flowers),
orange-headed (having an orange-coloured head),
orange-hued,
orange-keyed,
orange-quilled,
orange-spiked,
orange-spotted,
orange-tailed,
orange-winged, etc.,
adjs.;
orange-fuming a., that produces orange-coloured fumes;
orange-legged,
-thighed adjs., of birds: having the shank or thigh orange-coloured, as the Orange-legged Hobby,
Falco vespertinus, the Orange-thighed Falcon,
Falco fuscocærulescens (
List Anim. Zool. Soc. (1896) 398).
| 1799 G. Smith Laboratory II. 305 *Orange brown Body. 1866 Odling Anim. Chem. 153 The bromine floats on the surface as an orange-brown layer. |
| 1882 Garden 26 Aug. 183/2 Another with a sort of an *orange-buff tint. |
| 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts III. 460 *Orange-chrome, a subchromate of lead; a fine orange-coloured pigment. |
| 1882 Garden 14 Jan. 16/2 The flowers ranging in colour from yellow to a bright *orange-cinnamon. |
| 1862 R. H. Patterson Ess. Hist. & Art 27–8 A wall of an *orange-cream colour. |
| 1882 Garden 16 Dec. 534/2 A glowing *orange-crimson, very bright and effective. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 296 The orangefiery and scarlet rays. |
| 1887 W. Phillips Brit. Discomycetes 108 The colour varies from reddish-brown to pale *orange-flesh or salmon-colour. |
| 1853 W. Gregory Inorg. Chem. (ed. 3) 89 Along with pure nitric acid, it forms the *orange-fuming nitric acid of the shops, often called nitrous acid. |
| 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Mar. xxv, Broad and low down, where late the sun had been, A wealth of *orange-gold was thickly shed. |
| 1881 Rita My Lady Coquette iii, Miss Skipton, in her radiant *orange-hued garments. |
| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 715 *Orangekeyed ware..consisting of basin, soapdish and brushtray.., pitcher and night article. |
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 717 The *orange-lake above-mentioned..was used with great success by a considerable manufacturer. The colour it produces is that of the vinegar-garnet. |
| 1865–72 Watts Dict. Chem. III. 552 When the temperature is properly regulated, another pigment is obtained, called *Orange Lead. |
| 1865 Reader No. 123. 521/1 The *orange-quilled porcupine (Hystrix Malabarica). |
| 1956 D. Barnham One Man's Window vi. 67, I am enveloped in a world of luminous *orange-pink. 1967 O. Ruhen in Coast to Coast 1965–6 189 The orange-pink of its desert sand. |
| 1894 R. B. Sharpe Handbk. Birds Gt. Brit. I. 37 Under surface pale *orange-rufous, the abdomen white. |
| 1824 Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 139 Tulip, poppy, lily,—something orange or scarlet, or *orange-scarlet. |
| 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. VI. 57 *Orange-spiked Fox-tail. |
| 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) III. 290 The *orange-tailed bee... This is one of the largest of the British Bees. |
| 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 253/1 Special colors... *Orange Vermilion. 1951 R. Mayer Artist's Handbk. ii. 56 Orange vermilion, a variety of real vermilion. |
| 1865 Sat. Rev. 5 Aug. 182 The beautiful grakle, familiar to visitors at the Convent of Marsaba as the ‘*orange-winged blackbird’. |
c. In names of orange-coloured varieties of apples or pears, as
orange-bergamot,
orange-musk,
orange-pear,
orange-pippin; also in names of plants, animals, etc. of this colour (more or less), as
orange bat, the
Phinonycteris aurantia, inhabiting northern Australia, the male of which has fur of a bright orange (
Cassell's Encycl. Dict. 1886);
orange book, a report of the Ministry of Agriculture an Fisheries dealing with marketing questions and published in orange covers;
orange-cowry, a large handsome cowry (
Cypræa aurantia), of a deep yellow colour;
orange dove, a Fijian bird (
Chrysœnas victor), the male of which has bright orange plumage;
orange-fin, a variety of trout found in the Tweed;
orange-fly, a fishing-fly (see
quot.);
orange fungus, a fungus which attacks roses;
orange grass, (
a)
Hypericum Sarothra, having minute deep-yellow flowers (Miller
Plant-n. 1884); (
b)
U.S. = nit-weed;
orange gum, an Australian myrtaceous tree,
Angophora lanceolata (Morris);
orange-leaf, (
a) an evergreen shrub of New Zealand,
Coprosma lucida (Miller
Plant-n.); (
b) a quality of shellac;
orange lightning: see
quot.;
orange lily,
Lilium croceum; also
L. bulbiferum, var. aurantium;
orange-list, a kind of wide baize;
orange mine,
mineral, an oxide of lead of similar composition to red lead, but of brighter colour, formed by oxidizing white lead;
† orange-mint, a species of mint;
orange moth, a geometrid moth (see
quot.);
orange paste (
Dyeing), a paste for producing an orange colour;
orange pekoe, a type of black tea;
orange-quit, a bird of Jamaica,
Glossoptila ruficollis;
orange-root, a North American ranunculaceous plant, the golden-seal;
orange-sallow, a night-moth,
Xanthia citrago (Cassell);
orange-slip clay, a clay used in Staffordshire, of a grey colour, having mixed with it reddish nodules, which impart an orange colour to the ‘slip’ or tempered mass;
orange thorn: see A. 3,
quot. 1889
2.
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 232/2 Fruit-Trees..for a moderate Plantation..Pears..*Orange Bergamot [etc.]. |
| 1928 Daily Express 30 Apr. 7/4 The report is one of the Ministry's famous ‘*orange’ books—those scientific farming pamphlets for the education of English farmers. 1932 N. & Q. 30 Jan. 73/2 We were glad to have a note of the reception of the Orange Books on Marketing which the Ministry of Agriculture has been putting forth. |
| 1875 E. L. Layard in Ibis 435 In the same locality he procured the ‘*Orange Dove’, and found..that the female and young male were green. |
| 1834 Selby in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. No. 2. 36 A trout..analogous to the *Orange fin of the Tweed. |
| 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 105 The *Orange fly..Dubbed with orange coloured wool; the wings off the feather of a blackbirds wing. |
| 1882 Garden 25 Feb. 133/1 There is..no disease to which the Rose is liable that is so destructive in its effects as a virulent attack of *Orange fungus. |
| 1837 W. Darlington Flora cestrica (ed. 2) 324 Ground Pine. Nit-Weed. *Orange-grass. 1882 E. K. Godfrey Island of Nantucket 36 The orange grass with its fragrance now greeting us at every turn. 1907 Orange-grass [see nit-weed]. |
| 1883 Cassell's Fam. Mag. Oct. 683/2 Shell-lac..is known..as ‘button’, ‘*orange-leaf’,..and ‘reddish orange-leaf’. 1884 Miller Plant-n., Coprosma lucida, Otago Orange-leaf, or Looking-glass bush. |
| 1881 Greener Gun 501 The captain..loaded with Dittmar powder in the first and *orange lightning, No 6, in the second barrel. |
| 1856 Delamer Fl. Gard. (1861) 38 The *Orange Lily, L. croceum, a native of Austria, may be found in almost every cottage plot of flowers. 1880 Britten & H. Plant-n., Orange Lily, the common name in gardens for Lilium bulbiferum. |
| 1830 Booth Anal. Dict. I. 182 A wide Baize, dyed in fancy colours, is exported, chiefly to Spain, under the name of *Orangelist. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts s.v. Minium, The best minium, however, called *orange mine, is made by the slow calcination of good white lead (carbonate) in iron trays. |
| 1699 Evelyn Acetaria 39 The gentler Tops of the *Orange-Mint, enter well into our Composition. |
| 1869 Newman Brit. Moths 92 The *Orange Moth (Angerona prunaria). The wings of the male generally rich orange. |
| 1731–3 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Pyrus, The *Orange Musk. |
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort., Orch. July (1729) 210 Pears..green Chesil Pears, *Orange Pear [etc.]. 1731–3 Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Pyrus, The Green Orange Pear. |
| 1877 Cassell's Dict. Cookery 961/1 One pound of Moning Congo, a quarter of a pound of Assam, and a quarter of a pound of *Orange Pekoe. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 480/2 They [sc. the leaves] are now broken apart and sorted by mechanical sifters into the various grades or qualities, which are described as Orange Pekoe, [etc.]. 1960 A. E. Bender Dict. Nutrition 123 Orange Pekoe [is made] from the first opened leaf. |
| 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 48 The female flower of the *orange pippin. 1884 [see A. 3 b]. |
| 1894 Newton Dict. Birds s.v. Quit, Thus the *Orange-Quit is Glossoptila ruficollis, one of the Cærebidæ. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot. 605/1 Hydrastis canadensis is the only species of a genus of Ranunculaceæ, found in damp places in woods, in the Northern United States and Canada, where it is called Yellow Puccoon, *Orange root, or Canadian Yellow root. |
| Ibid. 818/2 *Orange-thorn, a colonial name for Citriobatus. |