aurify

/ˈɔːɹɪˌfaɪ/

Etymology

From aur- + -ify.

aurify means to turn into gold. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

aurify is pronounced /ˈɔːɹɪˌfaɪ/.

Why “aurify” is a great word

AURIFY — [Verb] To transmute into gold, or to cause to appear golden. From Latin auri- (combining form of aurum, "gold") + the English verbal suffix -fy (from Latin -ficare, "to make"). First recorded in use 1645–55. Unlike "gild," which suggests a superficial coating, or "transmute," which denotes a general change of substance, to aurify is to enact the alchemist's singular, profound ambition: the fundamental conversion of base matter into precious metal. It is the philosopher’s stone transforming lead in a crucible, the late sun turning a field of wheat into a sheet of hammered light, and memory casting childhood in a burnished, untouchable hue—the longing not merely to cover the world, but to consecrate its very substance through a final, golden change.

verb

To turn into gold.“The alchemist's dream was ever to aurify base metal.”