aureus

[ awr-ee-uh s ]

/ ˈɔr i əs /

noun, plural au·re·i [awr-ee-ahy] /ˈɔr iˌaɪ/.

a gold coin and monetary unit of ancient Rome, from Caesar to Constantine I.

Nearby words

aurelius, aurene glass, aureole, aureolin, aureomycin, aureus, auri-, auric, auricle, auricle atrialis, auricula

Origin of aureus

1600–10; < Latin: literally, golden

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for aureus

I once gave an aureus to a man named Croto to let me escape from a slave-prison.
Darkness and Dawn|Frederic W. Farrar
The value of the Aureus, which was also called Solidus, varied at different times.
Roman Antiquities, and Ancient Mythology|Charles K. Dillaway
Primo avulso non deficit alter / aureus—The first 50 being wrenched away, another of gold succeeds.
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources|James Wood
The reverse of an aureus of the reign of Titus represents the Colosseum with these statues and a quadriga in the centre.
The Works of Lord Byron, Volume 2|George Gordon Byron

As loyal, at any rate, as men who would sell their souls for an aureus, answered the Spaniard.
Darkness and Dawn|Frederic W. Farrar

British Dictionary definitions for aureus

aureus

/ (ˈɔːrɪəs) /

noun plural aurei (ˈɔːrɪˌaɪ)

a gold coin of the Roman Empire

Word Origin for aureus

Latin: golden; see aureate

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