【趣谈英语】先有橙色单词还是先有橙子的单词？-The Colour Orange Was Named After The Fruit

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

 

etymologist¹: a person who studies the evolution of languages

citrus: a plant family that includes lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruit

evolve: to change over time

drop: to let go; to no longer use

Sanskrit: an ancient language in India

 

The Colour Orange Was Named After The Fruit

You often hear the question, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”. Have you ever wondered about colour words? According to etymologists, the colour orange was named after the citrus fruit. It evolved from the Spanish word “naranja” meaning orange tree. The Spanish word came from a Sanskrit word. In the 16th century, when the fruit became widely available in Europe, the English dropped the “n” and began using the word “orange” to describe the colour orange. Previously² in Old English, the colour orange had been called yellow-red (“geoluhread”).

 

 

1 etymologist   

n.语源学

参考例句：

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。