The fruit or the color "orange"—which came first? The fruit we now call an "orange" is believed to have originated in Southeast Asia and was first cultivated in China around 2500 BC. The word "orange" was later used to refer to the fruit, and eventually came to be used to describe the color as well. Before the introduction of oranges to Europe, the color "orange" was referred to by other names such as "geoluhread" in Old English and "golore" in Old French. These words described a range of colors, including yellow, red, and brown, but did not specifically refer to the shade we now call "orange". It wasn't until the fruit was introduced to Europe in the 16th century that the color "orange" came to be associated with the fruit. Over time, the word "orange" came to be used specifically to describe both the fruit and the color and is now commonly used in both contexts.