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aureolus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word aureolus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin aurum
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin aurum
French or
Italian oro
Latin aureus
Latin aureolus
From the same root
Latin aurifer ← aurum
Latin inauro ← aurum
French désormais ← or

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [au̯ˈre.ɔ.ɫʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [au̯ˈrɛː.o.lus][1]

Forms

aureolus (feminine aureola, neuter aureolum); first/second-declension adjective[1] Columella has the spelling auriolus.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin aureus (“golden”) + -olus, a diminutive.[2][1][3] De Vaan lists both adjectives among the derivatives of aurum (“gold”), which goes back to Proto-Italic *auso- and Proto-Indo-European *h₂é-h₂us-o- (“glow”).[4] Cognate with Lithuanian áuksas (“gold”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Plautus,[4][5] for things made of gold: the Epidicus mentions a little gold ring and the Rudens a little golden sword.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Its first sense is made of gold, golden: Lucilius has a golden girdle and Catullus a golden apple.[2] It also means gold-coloured, as of a neck in Varro,[2] and gilded or decorated with gold.[6][1] Poets used it as a word of affection, beautiful or lovely, as when Catullus speaks of lovely little feet,[2] and Cicero praises a small but “golden” book and a “golden” little speech.[2] As a masculine noun (with nummus understood) it is a gold coin in Martial.[2][6] The Vulgate has it of a golden crown.[6]

The feminine aureola (with corōna understood) gave English aureole in the early 13th century, the heavenly crown of martyrs and virgins,[7] and Medieval Latin oriolus (13th century), from the same adjective, was the source, through French, of oriole, the golden bird.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a gold ring and a golden sword.[2][5]
  • c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius has it of a golden girdle.[2][5]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a golden apple and of lovely feet.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero praises a “golden” little book.[2][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it as a noun for a gold coin.[2][6][5]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of a golden crown.[6][5]
  • early 13th century – English borrows aureola as aureole.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Made of gold, golden.[2][6]
  2. Gold-coloured; gilded.[2][6][1]
  3. Beautiful, lovely; of speech or writing, brilliant, excellent.[2][1]

Noun

  1. A gold coin, gold piece.[2][6]

References

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

“Aureolus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/aureolus. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

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