About
The character 橙 (chéng) is a phono-semantic compound. Its left semantic radical 木 (mù) indicates a connection to trees, while the right phonetic component 登 (dēng) provides the pronunciation. This structure points to its original meaning: the orange tree and its citrus fruit. From this concrete botanical referent, the character underwent a common semantic extension to also denote the color of the fruit. In modern Chinese, it is thus used for both the fruit, as in 橙子 (chéngzi, "orange"), and the color, as in 橙色 (chéngsè, "orange-colored"), demonstrating a seamless shift from a specific noun to a widely used descriptive term.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
橙子很好吃。
我喜欢橙色。
她买了一些橙子。
橙汁是健康的饮料。
天空变成了橙色。
橙子树在院子里生长。
橙色的毛衣很温暖。
橙子不仅美味，而且营养丰富。