Which came first, orange or the orange?

Do you suppose an orange is so named due to its orangey hue, or was the colour orange given its name in recognition of the fruit to which it bears such a striking resemblance?

'tis a most perplexing mystery.


An orange.


Some orange.

The subject of orange foodstuffs brings me cunningly on to the humble carrot. Which shouldn't be orange. It should be, and originally was, black, yellow, red, purple and a veritable plethora of other weird and wonderful colours.

Our now sadly depleted carrot choice is thanks alone to 16th century Dutch farmers, who took it upon themselves to honour their monarchy, the house of Orange, by selectively breeding the yellow and red varieties of carrot commonly available at the time. Little did they know that by presenting their king with an appropriately coloured tuber they would sound the death-knell for worldwide carrot diversity.

It's a lucky thing the colour orange wasn't named after carrots or the whole world would be plunged into confusion.