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The corpus record — Latin

aurum

aurum

gold

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 240 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. aurum — de Vaan

aurum 'gold' [nJo] (Lex XII+) Derivatives: aureus 'golden, of gold' (Andr.+), aureolus 'id/ (P1.+), aurarius 'concerned with gold' (PL+)> auratus 'gilded' (PL+); aurifex/aurufex, -icis 'goldsmith' (P1.+). Pit. *auso-~ It. cognates: Lat. ausum 'gold'fromSabine, according to Paul, ex F. PIE *h2e-h2us-o- [n.] 'glow\ IE cognates: OPr. ausis, Lith. auksas (AP 3), dial. ausas (AP 1) 'gold'. ToA was, ToB yasa have been … — [de Vaan, s.v. aurum, p. 77]

2. aurum — Lewis & Short

aurum (Sab. ausum, Paul. ex ōrum, i, n.v. aes.

Fest. p. 9 Müll.; vulg. Lat., ib. p. 183; cf. Ital. and Span. oro and Fr. or),
I Gold; as a mineral, v. Plin. 33, 4, 21, § 66 sqq.: auri venas invenire, Cic. N. D. 2, 60, 151: venas auri sequi, Lucr. 6, 808; Tac. G. 5: aurum igni perspicere, Cic. Fam. 9, 16: eruere terrā, Ov. Am. 3, 8, 53: auri fodina, Plin. 33, 4, 21, § 78; Vulg. Gen. 2, 11; ib. 2 Par. 2, 7; ib. Matt. 2, 11; Naev. ap. Serv. ad Verg. A. 2, 797: ex auro vestis, id. 2, 22 (ap. Isid. Orig. 19, 22, 20) et saep.— Provv.: montes auri polliceri, to promise mountains of gold, Ter. Phorm. 1, 2, 18: carius auro, more precious than gold, Cat. 107, 3 (cf.: kreissona xrusou=, Aesch. Choëph. 372; xrusou= xruso/tera, Sapph. Fr. 122. Ellis).—
II Meton.
A Things made of gold, an ornament of gold, a golden vessel, utensil, etc.: Nec domus argento fulget nec auro renidet, gold plate, Lucr. 2, 27. So,
1 A golden goblet: et pleno se proluit auro, Verg. A. 1, 739: Regales epulae mensis et Bacchus in auro Ponitur, Ov. M. 6, 488: tibi non committitur aurum, Juv. 5, 39; 10, 27; Stat. Th. 5, 188; and in the hendiadys: pateris libamus et auro = pateris aureis, Verg. G. 2, 192.—
2 A golden chain, buckle, clasp, necklace, jewelry: Oneratas veste atque auro, Ter. Heaut. 3, 1, 43: Donec eum conjunx fatale poposcerit aurum, Ov. M. 9, 411; 14, 394.—
3 A gold ring: Ventilet aestivum digitis sudantibus aurum, Juv. 1, 28.—
4 A golden bit: fulvum mandunt sub dentibus aurum, Verg. A. 7, 279; 5, 817.—
5 The golden fleece: auro Heros Aesonius potitur, Ov. M. 7, 155.—
6 A golden hairband, krwbu/los: crines nodantur in aurum, Verg. A. 4, 138 Serv.—
7 Esp. freq., gold as coined money: si quis illam invenerit Aulam onustam auri, Plaut. Aul. 4, 2, 4: De Caelio vide, quaeso, ne quae lacuna sit in auro, Cic. Att. 12, 6, 1: Aurum omnes victā jam pietate colunt, Prop. 4, 12, 48 sq.: quid non mortalia pectora cogis Auri sacra fames? Verg. A. 3, 56; cf. Plin. 37, 1, 3, § 6; so Hor. C. 2, 16, 8; 2, 18, 36; 3, 16, 9; id. S. 2, 2, 25; 2, 3, 109; 2, 3, 142; id. Ep. 2, 2, 179; Vulg. Matt. 10, 9; ib. Act. 3, 6 et saep.—
B The color or lustre of gold, the gleam or brightness of gold, Ov. M. 9, 689: anguis cristis praesignis et auro (hendiadys, for cristis aureis), id. ib. 3, 32: saevo cum nox accenditur auro, Val. Fl. 5, 369 (i. e. mala portendente splendore, Wagn.); so, fulgor auri, of the face, Cat. 64, 100, ubi v. Ellis.—
C The Golden Age: redeant in aurum Tempora priscum, Hor. C. 4, 2, 39: subiit argentea proles, Auro deterior, Ov. M. 1, 115; 15, 260.

In the wild

6 of 2,095 attestations shown.

Where it came from

  • de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. aurum (scan pp. 77-78; entry #119). Root candidates: *hieies-, *h2ues-, *aust-.
  • Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. aurum (scan p. 84; entry #1077).

Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.