tangerine

American  

[tan-juh-reen, tan-juh-reen] / ˌtæn dʒəˈrin, ˈtæn dʒəˌrin /

noun

• tangerines
  plural

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

2. deep orange; reddish orange.

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adjective

1. of the color tangerine; reddish-orange.

tangerine ¹ British  

/ ˌtændʒəˈriːn /

noun

1. a native of inhabitant of Tangier

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adjective

1. of or relating to Tangier or its inhabitants

tangerine ² British  

/ ˌtændʒəˈriːn /

noun

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

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

3. 1. a reddish-orange colour

   2. ( as adjective )

      a tangerine door

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tangerines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tangerine

Tang(i)er + -ine ¹

Compare meaning

How does tangerine compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• tangelo vs. tangerine

Explanation

A tangerine is a kind of citrus tree, and it's also the name of the fruit the tree produces. Tangerines are like little oranges. Delicious! Some people prefer tangerines to oranges, because they're small, they have thin, loose skin that's easy to peel, and they are often sweeter than oranges. In the 1840s, tangerines were called tangerine oranges, or "oranges from Tangier" by the British. They were originally imported from Tangier, Morocco, and are a variety of mandarin orange.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tangerine tangerines

New York had not even hosted an NBA finals game since Steve Jobs was hawking tangerine iMacs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026

You can be blue or tangerine, red or black, claret and amber - everybody has some sort of skin in the game, some reason to be gripped.

From BBC ● May 10, 2026

He persisted , and slowly, a group formed that picked 800 pounds of fruit off his neighbor’s tangerine and orange trees, and identified many more that needed picking.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2024

The craft cocktails skew toward Southeast Asian themes and ingredients, from pandan to tangerine.

From Seattle Times ● May 4, 2024

I pop the last section of tangerine in my mouth.

From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau

To be clear: These athletes aren’t chowing on the yucky old sports gels we all know and hate, the ones that taste like tangerines and moldy baseball gloves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

Or, if you’ve ever been to Ojai, you’ll know the sweet, citrusy scent of Pixie tangerines that lingers in the air.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2024

But others, like the Hidatsa Red bean, prevalent in the Dakotas, and the Ojai Pixie tangerines grown in Southern California, are newer additions to the ever-growing catalog.

From Salon ● May 8, 2024

Each culture has its own list of special foods during the new year, including dumplings, rice cakes, spring rolls, tangerines, fish and meats.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2024

It was located in the heart of southern California’s citrus belt, an area that produced almost all of the state’s oranges, lemons, and tangerines.

From "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal" by Eric Schlosser