Because the orange’s peculiar coloring is it’s most recognizable feature. Could it be then that the color was named for the fruit, instead of the inverse...
Banana varieties can be red or yellow when ripe. Apples can be red, blackish red, pink, yellow, green or striped. Oranges tend to be orange everywhere except Fiji, where they are dark green on the outside when fully ripe but still orange and sweet on the inside.
Think so... you're questioning the illogic of some of our linguistic conventions. Yes?
But considering your excellent knowledge of grammar, syntax and vocabulary, I would imagine that you might also have an interest in etymology.
So maybe a better answer might be;
The word "apple" originated from Old English æppel, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch appel and German Apfel.
The word banana is thought to be of West African origin, possibly from the Wolof (language) word "banaana", and passed into English via the C16th Spanish or Portuguese word "banana".
The original sweet orange was a hybrid cultivated in ancient China by crossing a pomelo with a mandarine. The etymology of the word orange is quite different. The word orange derives from the Sanskrit word for "orange tree" (नारङ्ग nāraṅga), which in turn derives from a Dravidian root word from நரந்தம், narandam. The Sanskrit word reached European language via the Persian word نارنگ nārang and its Arabic derivativeنارنج (nāranj). The French word, in turn, comes from Old Provençal auranja. The word entered English in C14th via the Old French phrase pomme d'orenge). In several languages, the initial n present in earlier forms of the word drops off because it may be mistaken as part of an indefinite article ending in an n sound—in French, for example, une norenge may have been heard as une orenge. This linguistic change is called juncture loss.
Thus, the color was named after the fruit, not the fruit after the color.
The first recorded use of orange as a color name in English was in 1512.
This post was edited by inky at November 24, 2018 7:20 AM MST
Or maybe I was just being sarcastic and quoting an old TV sitcom joke line, and you took the question much too seriously. Remember Rev. Jim Ignatowski?
Because the fruit came first. The color was named after the fruit.
Colors like "orange" and "purple" often derive their names from colored objects. "Purple" derives from the name of a mollusc that purple dye was extracted from. Linguistically, they are some of the last colors to receive unique names.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at November 24, 2018 12:45 AM MST
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Patchouli 