tangerine

noun tan·ger·ine \ ˈtan-jə-ˌrēn , ˌtan-jə-ˈrēn \

|Updated on: 28 Jul 2018

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of tangerine

1 a : any of various mandarin oranges that have usually deep orange skin and pulp; broadly : mandarin 3b

b : a tree producing tangerines

2 : a moderate to strong reddish orange

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Recent Examples of tangerine from the Web

Unlike the Golden Globes, there was plenty of color in this year's Oscar fashions from Greta Gerwig's shimmering tangerine gown to Daniel Kaluuya's mustard tuxedo jacket.

— joey morona, cleveland.com, "Oscars 2018 red carpet: Best and worst dressed (video)," 5 Mar. 2018
Founded in the 1960s, the orchard and store offers acres of citrus including navels, pink grapefruit, Rio Red grapefruit, Arizona Sweets, Valencias and tangerines.

— sonja haller, azcentral, "Ultimate Arizona bucket list: 25 things to do in Mesa," 18 Feb. 2015
Kids and teetotalers can opt for mystic portal punch, which has lemon-lime and tangerine flavors with Powerade Mountain Berry Blast.

— dewayne bevil, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Disney: Comfort food fills Woody's Lunch Box at Toy Story Land," 28 June 2018
Sweet-tart tangerine and loads of citrusy hops make for a really bright, flavorful brew.

— ac shilton, Outside Online, "The Definitive Summer Guide to Shower Beer," 6 June 2018
Prior to the show, McKnight dyed single ostrich feathers to match the collection’s muted color palette in shades of mustard, chartreuse, violet, and tangerine.

— lauren valenti, Vogue, "There’s a Wildly Pretty New Way to Embellish Your Hair on the Paris Runways," 28 Feb. 2018
To approximate their taste, substitute tangerine juice for some of the lemon.

— polly campbell, Cincinnati.com, "Chef and a Recipe: Justin Uchtman of Sartre does spring vegetables," 4 June 2018
But Douglas and others have found that crested auklets emit octanal, a compound also found in tangerines.

— ned rozell, Anchorage Daily News, "Why some birds smell like tangerines, and others smell like lavender," 28 Apr. 2018
Grapefruits can also be somewhat bitter, which may turn off people accustomed to honey-sweet tangerines.

— melissa clark, New York Times, "A Tart Solution for Sweet Crumb Cake," 20 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tangerine.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

When tangerine was first used in the mid-19th century it was an adjective we'd borrowed from French to describe people or things from or relating to the Moroccan city of Tangier. (The French name for "Tangier" is Tanger.) Within about a hundred years the noun tangerine was being used to refer to the fruit we now know by that name. Although tangerines were at one time thought to be native to Morocco, they are now thought to be indigenous to southeast Asia. As our definition explains, tangerines are technically a kind of mandarin orange-and mandarin is another word we got from the French. The French mandarine is most likely originally from the Portuguese word mandarim, which etymologists believe is probably from the color of a Chinese mandarin's robes.