tangerine

[tan-juh-reen, tan-juh-reen]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tangerine ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Also called mandarin, mandarin orange. any of several varieties of mandarin, cultivated widely, especially in the U.S.

deep orange; reddish orange.

adjective

of the color tangerine; reddish-orange.

Origin of tangerine

Tang(i)er + -ine¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tangerine

cantaloupe, bittersweet, titian, peach, apricot, coral, salmon, carrot

Examples from the Web for tangerine

Contemporary Examples of tangerine

A close second: thinking the public has the I.Q. of a tangerine.
John Edwards' Audacity of Spin
Eric Dezenhall
January 27, 2010
Put the dried apricots into a saucepan with the water, and add the sugar and juices from the lemon and tangerine or orange.
Ham, Green Bean Casserole, Easy Trifle
The Daily Beast
December 23, 2008

Historical Examples of tangerine

Well, that taught my father a lesson, and after that he saved all his tangerine peels.
My Father's Dragon
Ruth Stiles Gannett
There was Tangerine Willy, who first met them carrying a bag of oranges.
Carnival
Compton Mackenzie
The Mandarin or Tangerine orange has a thin rind which separates easily from the pulp, and is very sweet and rich.
Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture
William Saunders
This feat appears to be very difficult, but it is not; the weight of the tangerine helps you.
Water Wizardry
Arthur Ainslie
The most popular orange is the tangerine, or kid glove orange as it is sometimes called; many of these are exported.
The Old World and Its Ways
William Jennings Bryan

British Dictionary definitions for tangerine

tangerine

noun

an Asian citrus tree, Citrus reticulata, cultivated for its small edible orange-like fruits

the fruit of this tree, having a loose rind and sweet spicy flesh

a reddish-orange colour
(as adjective)a tangerine door

Word Origin for tangerine

C19: from Tangier

Tangerine

noun

a native of inhabitant of Tangier

adjective

of or relating to Tangier or its inhabitants

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tangerine

1842, from tangerine orange (1841) "an orange from Tangier," seaport in northern Morocco, from which it was originally imported to Britain. The place name is from Latin Tinge. As a color name, attested from 1899.