Where does “tangerine” come from?

Tangerine derives from Old French tangerine, from Latin tangerinus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -iHnos, a suffix forming adjectives of origin or belonging.

tangerine (English): Any of several varieties of mandarin oranges; A...

Definitions

  1. Any of several varieties of mandarin oranges; A...

Ancestry of “tangerine”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-ineOf or pertaining to; Used to form demonyms;...
2French-inefeminine singular of -in; female equivalent of...
3Frenchpast participle root verb suffix of regular -er...
4Middle Frenchpast participle root verb suffix of regular; -ed, -en, -n
5Old Frenchused to form past participles of regular -er...
6Latin-asuffixed to the roots of verbs, forms agent...
7Proto-ItalicForms masculine agent nouns from prefixed or compounded bases
8Proto-Indo-European-éh₂
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -éh₂Every word from English -ineEvery word from French -ine