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aureate

[awr-ee-it, -eyt]
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adjective
  1. golden or gilded.
  2. brilliant; splendid.
  3. characterized by an ornate style of writing or speaking.
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Origin of aureate

1400–50; late Middle English aureat < Late Latin aureātus decorated with gold, equivalent to Latin aure(us) golden, of gold (aur(um) gold + -eus adj. suffix) + -ātus -ate1
Related formsau·re·ate·ly, adverbau·re·ate·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

brilliantgoldenornateoverblownsplendidyellow

Examples from the Web for aureate

Historical Examples

  • It was after the Restoration that the aureate earth at Kinneff was dug up.

    The Spell of Scotland

    Keith Clark

  • As though spellbound, Chichikov sat in an aureate world of ever-growing dreams and fantasies.

    Dead Souls

    Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

  • And just across the area the sun was already beginning to wash all the roofs with its aureate light.

  • The golden statue veered in the changing breeze, menacing many points on the horizon with its aureate arrow.

  • Caiques carrying merchants to their homes somewhere along the upper shores were burnished with the aureate hue.

    The Ship Dwellers

    Albert Bigelow Paine

British Dictionary definitions for aureate

aureate

adjective
  1. covered with gold; gilded
  2. of a golden colour
  3. (of a style of writing or speaking) excessively elaborate or ornate; florid
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Derived Formsaureately, adverbaureateness, noun

Word Origin

C15: from Late Latin aureātus gilded, from Latin aureus golden, from aurum gold
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for aureate

adj.

early 15c., "gold, gold-colored," also figuratively, "splendid, brilliant," from Latin aureatus "decorated with gold," from aureus "golden," from aurum "gold," from PIE *aus- (cf. Sanskrit ayah "metal," Avestan ayo, Latin aes "brass," Old English ar "brass, copper, bronze," Gothic aiz "bronze," Old Lithuanian ausas "gold"), probably related to root *aus- "to shine" (see aurora).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper