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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

Examples from the Web for auriferous

Historical Examples

  • 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

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