Etymologically
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aurum

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈau̯.rũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaːu̯.rum][1]

Forms

aurum n (genitive aurī); second declension[1] A rustic form ōrum is recorded by Festus.[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *auzom (“gold”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éwsom or a reduplicated ⟨*h₂é-h₂us-om⟩ “the glowing one”, from the root *h₂ews- (“to dawn, glow”), as in aurōra “dawn”.[3][1][4][5] The Sabine form ⟨ausum⟩ keeps the old ⟨s⟩, which became ⟨r⟩ in Latin.[3][2]

Cognate with Old Prussian ausis (“gold”) and Lithuanian áuksas (“gold”).[3][4] Tocharian A wäs (“gold”) and Tocharian B yasa (“gold”) have been explained as borrowings from Uralic.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from the Twelve Tables on.[3][5] Ennius has ferrō, nōn aurō, vītam cernāmus utrīque, “let us both decide for our lives with iron, not with gold”.[4]

Semantic evolution

Aurum is gold as a metal, and gold as wealth, treasure, money.[4][1] It is used for gilding and ornament and for things made of gold: rings, cups, a crown; in myth it is the Golden Fleece and the golden rain of Danaë.[4][1] It also means the colour or brightness of gold, and in poetry the Golden Age.[4][1]

The popular form ōrum lies behind Italian oro, Spanish oro and French or.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – Used in the Twelve Tables.[3][5]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius: ferrō, nōn aurō.[4][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: aurum turpī mulierī, gold for an ugly woman.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero hears that there is neither gold nor silver in Britain.[4][5]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of the Golden Fleece.[4][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. gold (the metal).[4][2][1][6]
  2. Gold as wealth; treasure, money.[4]
  3. Gold used for ornament, gilding.[4]
  4. Something made of gold: a ring, cup, crown.[4][1]
  5. The Golden Fleece;[4] the golden rain of Danaë.[4]
  6. The colour or brightness of gold.[4][1]
  7. (poetic) The Golden Age.[1]

Word family

  • aurārius
  • aureus
  • aurifodīna
  • auricoctor
  • auricolor
  • auricomāns
  • auricomus
  • aurifer
  • aurifex
  • aurifluus
  • aurāria
  • aurāta
  • aurātilis
  • aurātūra
  • aurātus
  • aureātus
  • aureolus
  • aurōra
  • argentum

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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 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
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson