aureate

/ˈɔːɹiːət/

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aureatus (“adorned or decorated with gold”). Equivalent to Latin aureus (“golden, gilded”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

Why this word is great

AUREATE — [Adjective] Golden in color or shine; or, of language, characterized by the use of excessively ornamental or grandiose terms, often of Latin or French origin. From the Latin aureatus ("adorned or decorated with gold"), from aureus ("golden, gilded") + -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Unlike "gilded" (which implies a thin veneer of gold over a lesser material) or "florid" (which suggests mere ornamentation without luminosity), "aureate" carries the weight of both literal and metaphorical radiance. It is the molten glow of late afternoon sunlight on cathedral spires, the burnished luster of a medieval manuscript’s illuminated letters, or the unbearable richness of a poet’s overwrought ode—each a reminder that beauty, even when excessive, is still a form of light.

adj

Golden in color or shine.“O wynd of grace, now blowe into my saile, / O auriat lycour of Clyo, for to wryte / Mi penne enspire of that I wold endyte.”
Of language: characterized by the use of (excessively) ornamental or grandiose terms, often of Latin or French origin.“It may, then, be said that aureate terms were those new words, chiefly Romance or Latinical in origin, continually sought, under authority of criticism and the best writers, for a rich and expressive style in English, from about 1350 to about 1530.”