gold
UK /ɡəʊld/ · US /ɡoʊld/ noun, adjective, verb, adverb, proper noun
Forms golds golder goldest golding golded gould
- noun (chemistry)(uncountable) A heavy yellow elemental metal of great value, with atomic number 79.
- noun (countable or uncountable) A coin or coinage made of this material, or supposedly so. “The pirates were searching for gold.”
- noun (uncountable) A deep yellow colour, resembling the metal gold.
- noun (countable) The bullseye of an archery target. “Daniel hit the gold to win the contest.”
- noun (countable) A gold medal. “France has won three golds and five silvers.”
- noun (figuratively) Anything or anyone that is very valuable. “That food mixer you gave me is absolute gold, mate!”
- noun (slang, in the plural) A grill (jewellery worn on front teeth) made of gold.
- adjective Made of gold. “a gold chain”
- adjective Having the colour of gold. “gold sticker”
- adjective (business, retail) Premium, superior.
- adjective (music, business) Of a musical recording, having sold 500,000 copies.
- adjective (publishing, academia) Subject to or involving a model of open access in which a published article is immediately available for to read for free with no embargo period.
- verb (transitive) To appear or cause to appear golden.
- adjective (programming, of software) In a finished state, ready for manufacturing.
- adverb of or referring to a gold version of something
- proper noun An English surname originating as an occupation for a goldsmith or a rich man.
- noun A member of the Goldi or Nanai people.
Synonyms
mul:Au good as gold golden amber Au atomic number 79 gilded aureate gilt
Etymology
From Middle English gold, from Old English gold (“gold”), from Proto-West Germanic *golþ, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰl̥h₃tóm (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green, yellow”). Related to yellow; see there for more. Germanic cognates include Scots gowd, Dutch goud, German Gold, Faroese, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk gull, Danish and Swedish guld, and cognates from other Indo-European languages include Latvian zelts, Russian зо́лото (zóloto), Persian زرد (zard, “yellow, golden”), Sanskrit हिरण्य (hiraṇya).
From gold master, a copy of the code certified as being ready for release.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An old English name of some yellow flower, --the marigold (Calendula), according to Dr. Prior, but in Chaucer perhaps the turnsole.
- noun A metallic element, constituting the most precious metal used as a common commercial medium of exchange. It has a characteristic yellow color, is one of the heaviest substances known (specific gravity 19.32), is soft, and very malleable and ductile. It is quite unalterable by heat, moisture, and most corrosive agents, and therefore well suited for its use in coin and jewelry. Symbol Au (Aurum). Atomic weight 196.7.
- noun Money; riches; wealth.
Etymology [AS. gold; akin to D. goud, OS. & G. gold, Icel. gull, Sw. & Dan. guld, Goth. gulp, Russ. & OSlav. zlato; prob. akin to E. yellow. Yellow, and cf. Gild, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gold”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details