Let’s compare apples and oranges; to be specific, where the two words come from. “Apple” is a native English word, from Old English æppel, which in turn comes from Proto-Germanic *ap(a)laz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ab(e)l — imagine nomads in the steppes of Russia and Ukraine munching on *abels 5,000 years ago. “Orange”, in contrast, travelled westward across the medieval world to English through Old French, Italian (arancia), Arabic........

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