پرتقال

What it means

پرتقال (porteghâl) means “orange” (the fruit). Persian uses the country name “Portugal”, the word is loaned from European languages where the orange variety associated with Portuguese trade became the standard.

How to use it

• یک پرتقال می‌خواهم (yek porteghâl mikhâham) “I want an orange”
• پرتقال شیرین است (porteghâl shirin ast) “The orange is sweet”
• آب پرتقال (âb-e porteghâl) “orange juice”

Where the name comes from

The sweet orange variety arrived in the Mediterranean world from Asia via Portuguese traders in the 15-16th century. Many languages of the region (including Persian, Turkish, Greek, Arabic dialects, Romanian) still call the fruit “Portugal.” The persistence of the name is a small linguistic record of the Age of Exploration.

Common pairings

• آب پرتقال (âb-e porteghâl) “orange juice”
• پوست پرتقال (pust-e porteghâl) “orange peel”
• پرتقال تامسون (porteghâl-e tâmson) “Thomson orange variety”

References

• Dehkhoda
• Vajehyab