goldsmith

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English goldsmiþ (“goldsmith, worker in gold”),^[2][3][4][5] inherited from Proto-Germanic *gulþasmiþaz,^[6] a compound of the words that became gold and smith.^[7][3][6] It is matched by Old Frisian goldsmid, Middle Dutch goutsmit, Dutch goudsmid, Old Saxon goldsmith, Old High German goldsmid, German Goldschmied, Old Norse gullsmiðr, Swedish guldsmed and Danish guldsmed,^[7][6][3][2] which the OED treats as cognates or as parallel formations.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A worker in gold: the OED's first record is in the Old English Hexateuch, at Genesis 4:22, where Tubal-cain is called both a goldsmith and an ironsmith.^[7][2] Bosworth–Toller also cites a charter of King Eadred granting land to his goldsmith Ælfsige.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The craftsman who made and repaired gold articles later also dealt in them.^[7] In the 17th and 18th centuries London goldsmiths kept money for their clients and acted as bankers: the OED records the sense from 1660, in Pepys's diary, to 1822,^[7] and Johnson (1755) gave "a banker; one who keeps money for others" as the word's second sense.^[8] Collins still lists this former sense, and for Malaysian English the sense "jeweller".^[9] From 1799 to 1928 goldsmith was also a name for the goldsmith beetle.^[7]

Timeline

• Old English – goldsmiþ, a worker in gold.^[7][2]
• 1660 – a goldsmith who also acted as a banker (obsolete by 1822).^[7]
• 1799 – the goldsmith beetle (obsolete by 1928).^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A craftsman who makes and repairs articles of gold.^[9][4][7]
2. A maker of or dealer in gold articles, or in Malaysia a jeweller.^[9][4]
3. (obsolete, 1660–1822) A goldsmith who also kept money for others and did the business of a banker.^[7][8][9]

Word family

• goldsmith beetle

Related words

• gold
• smith
• goldsmithery
• silversmith
• blacksmith

Usage notes

Goldsmith is also an English surname, an occupational name for a goldsmith; early bearers include Roger Goldsmiz (Norfolk, 1250) and Thomas Goldsmith (Essex, 1255).^[10] As a Jewish surname it can also be an anglicization of Yiddish and German forms such as Goldschmidt.^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
10. ^ a b Hanks, Patrick; Coates, Richard; McClure, Peter, eds. (2016), The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, Oxford: Oxford University Press