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The name Portugal refers to the orange fruit, not the country. Orange in many parts of the world (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and I think some Arabic countries) i
by jcrei 12y ago
The name Portugal refers to the orange fruit, not the country. Orange in many parts of the world (Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and I think some Arabic countries) is still called something like "Portucalle". This is due to the fact that the sweet variety of oranges we now consume was first brought to Europe by Portuguese sailors / merchants. (Before that, oranges were like lemons are now, just used for cooking)
This differs from Orange in many other countries where the name comes from "Apple from China"..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_%28fruit%29#Etymology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_%28fruit%29#Etymology
- loxs 12y agoAnd Turkey
- diego_moita 12y agoOranges, were introduced into Portugal by the Moors (current day Moroccans and Algerians) when they invaded Iberian Peninsula. It spread from there to the rest of Europe. Funny thing is that the Persians knew citrus fruits (originated in Central Asia) long before the Portuguese but they also call it portqale while the Portuguese name (laranja) comes from the sanskrit "nāraṅga" brought by the Persians themselves. The reason is that the Portuguese discovered very soon that the citrus are very efficient to fight scurvy, caused by C vitamin deficiency, a disease that made impossible to travel long oceanic voyages. So during 15th and 16th century they established a lot of trading posts around the world where they could get a supply of fresh oranges. Oranges were one of the secrets discovered by the Portuguese to enable long sailing ships. Like land and celestial maps and gun powder, they were one of the most essential technologies to enable mercantilism, European colonialism and globalization.
- twic 12y agoI knew that orangeade in Greek is "portokalada" but i'd never made the connection!