Etymologically
Log in

auratus

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word auratus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
204–169 BC, Ennius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*h₂é-h₂us-o-)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [au̯ˈraː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [au̯ˈraː.tus][1]

Forms

aurātus (feminine aurāta, neuter aurātum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is the participle of aurō (“to gild”), as the OLD and Priscian take it, or formed directly from aurum (“gold”) with the suffix -ātus, since finite forms of the verb are rare.[2][1] De Vaan derives ⟨aurum⟩ from Proto-Italic *auso- (“gold”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂é-h₂us-o- (“glow”), cognate with Lithuanian áuksas (“gold”) and Old Prussian ausis (“gold”);[3] Paulus' epitome of Festus records a Sabine form ⟨ausum⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler gives Ennius as its first author,[4] who has warriors drinking “from gilded bowls”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is overlaid with gold or gilded, adorned or embroidered with gold, as Plautus' couches inlaid with ivory and gold, of sacrificial animals with gilded horns, as Livy's ox, and of people wearing gold ornaments, as in Plautus' Menaechmi.[2][5] It is also made of gold, golden, as Ovid's golden arrow and Catullus' Golden Fleece, containing gold, as Lucretius' gold-bearing mines, and gold-coloured, as the golden evening star of the Culex;[2][1] aurāta is the gilthead fish.[2][1]

The TLL records aurāta mors of Crassus, into whose mouth the Parthians poured gold.[6] Köbler finds it in medieval medicine in Constantine the African.[4]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of gilded bowls.[2][4]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of gold-inlaid couches.[2][4]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of gold-bearing mines.[2][4]
  • 1020–1087 – Constantine the African.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Gilded, overlaid with gold; adorned with gold; wearing gold.[2][5][1]
  2. Made of gold, golden; gold-bearing.[2][1]
  3. Gold-coloured;[2][1] aurāta, the gilthead.[2]

Word family

  • obaurātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Cite this entry

“Auratus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/auratus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·