I. ˈgōld noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old Frisian, Old Saxon, & Old High German gold, Old Norse gull, Gothic gulth gold, Old English geolu yellow — more at yellow
1.
a. : a very malleable, ductile, yellow trivalent and univalent metallic element that occurs chiefly in the free state but also in a few minerals as sylvanite or nagyagite, is indifferent to most chemicals but attacked by chlorine and aqua regia, and is hardened or changed in color for commercial use (as in coins, jewelry, dentures) by alloying with copper, silver, zinc, cadmium, and other metals — symbol Au ; see element table
b. : the heraldic metal or
2.
a.
(1) : gold coins
(2) : a gold piece
b. : money , riches
c. : a monetary standard linked directly to the value of the metal gold
England went off gold — A.M.Young
3.
a. : thread or fabric made wholly or partly of gold
b. : decoration in gold leaf on gold color : gilding
4.
a. : a variable color averaging deep yellow
b. : a light olive brown
5. : something resembling gold ; especially : something treasured as the essence of finest exemplification of its kind
taking bits of this and that and transmuting them into culinary gold — Harold Sinclair
a heart of gold
6.
a. : the gilded or golden bull's-eye of an archery target
b. : a hit on such a bull's-eye
you've made a gold
II. adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English, from gold, n.
1.
a. : made or consisting of gold
the gleaming gold band ring — Carson McCullers
b. : of the heraldic metal or
2. : having the color of gold : golden
russet and gold chrysanthemums — Louis Bromfield
3.
a. : of, relating to, or payable in gold coin — see gold bond
b. : of or relating to a monetary gold standard
4. : of outstanding value, quality, or excellence
the gold tones of an alpine horn — Willa Cather
5.
[so called from the practice during the construction of the Panama canal of paying skilled white labor in gold and unskilled colored labor in silver]
: of or for the white population in the Panama Canal Zone
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English golde, from Old English, from gold (I)
1. dialect Britain : pot marigold
2. : corn marigold
IV.
Usage: usually capitalized
variant of goldi
V. noun
: a medal awarded to the winner of a competition
at the Olympics [she] went on to win the gold — Joy Duckott Cain
collectively : gold medals
has earned him gold in just about every important … competition — Helen Mason
VI. adjective
: qualifying for a gold record
five … recordings are certified gold — Henry Edwards
•
- go gold