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auriferous

[aw-rif-er-uh s]
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adjective
  1. yielding or containing gold.
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Origin of auriferous

1720–30; < Latin aurifer gold-bearing (see auri-1, -fer) + -ous
Related formsnon·au·rif·er·ous, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for auriferous

gilt, halcyon, aureate, gilded, aurelian, auric, auriferous, aurous, blond, blonde, dusty, honeyed, straw, tan, tawny, wheat, caramel, flaxen, ochroid

Examples from the Web for auriferous

Historical Examples of auriferous

  • He examined the auriferous facet with close scrutiny and satisfaction.

    The Golden Woman

    Ridgwell Cullum

  • The extraction of gold from auriferous rock is also known to the natives.

  • The upper course of the Xingu is auriferous and fed by numerous branches.

    Xingu

    Edith Wharton

  • The place which I know as auriferous is some miles distant, the way rugged.

    A Strange Story, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

  • Footnote 2: Machines in which diggers wash the gold from the auriferous soil.

    Grif

    B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon

British Dictionary definitions for auriferous

auriferous

adjective
  1. (of rock) containing gold; gold-bearing
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Word Origin for auriferous

C18: from Latin aurifer gold-bearing, from aurum gold + ferre to bear
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 auriferous

adj.

"containing gold," 1727, from Latin aurifer "gold-bearing," from auri-, comb. form of aurum "gold" (see aureate) + -fer "producing, bearing" (see infer).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper