gold means made of gold.
gold is pronounced /ɡəʊld/.
Why “gold” is a great word
A precious, dense, yellow metallic element valued for its malleability, luster, and resistance to corrosion. From Middle English 'gold', from Old English 'gold', from Proto-West Germanic *golþ, from Proto-Germanic *gulþą, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰl̥h₃tóm, derived from the root *ǵʰelh₃- ("to shine, yellow, green"). Unlike "gilt" (which denotes a superficial veneer, a mere suggestion of value) or "brass" (a base alloy that borrows gold’s hue but not its enduring essence), gold is substance incarnate—its weight a silent promise, its color a fire that does not consume. It is the wedding band worn smooth by decades of skin, the unblinking eye of a Byzantine mosaic that has outlived its empire, and the particular weight of a coin in a palm that makes the hand close instinctively. Gold persists, the color of late sunlight held in metal, asking nothing of time and receiving its tribute anyway.
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).
adj
- Made of gold.e.g.“a gold chain”
- Having the colour of gold.e.g.“gold sticker”
- Premium, superior.
- Of a musical recording, having sold 500,000 copies.e.g.“The album went gold, then platinum, thanks to a second hit single, "It's A Miracle".” — 2000, Billboard, volume 112, number 20, page 52:
- 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.e.g.“Coordinate term: green”
- In a finished state, ready for manufacturing.e.g.“The Company confirmed that Half-Life 2, developed by Valve Software, has gone gold with a planned retail street date of November 16, 2004.” — 2004 November, “Half-Life 2 goes gold”, in HWM, page 10:
name
- An English surname originating as an occupation for a goldsmith or a rich man.
noun
- A heavy yellow elemental metal of great value, with atomic number 79.e.g.“You like to hear about gold.
A king filled his prison room
As full as the room could hold
To the top of his reach on the wall
With every known shape of the stuff.
’Twas to buy himself off his doom.” — 1936, Robert Frost, “The Vindictives”, in A Further Range:
- A coin or coinage made of this material, or supposedly so.e.g.“The pirates were searching for gold.”
- A deep yellow colour, resembling the metal gold.
- The bullseye of an archery target.e.g.“Daniel hit the gold to win the contest.”
- A gold medal.e.g.“France has won three golds and five silvers.”
- Anything or anyone that is very valuable.e.g.“That food mixer you gave me is absolute gold, mate!”
- A grill (jewellery worn on front teeth) made of gold.
- A member of the Goldi or Nanai people.
verb
- To appear or cause to appear golden.
adv
- of or referring to a gold version of something
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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