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dorado

[duh-rah-doh]
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noun, plural do·ra·dos, (especially collectively) do·ra·do.
  1. dolphin(def 2).
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Origin of dorado

1595–1605; < Spanish < Late Latin deaurātus, past participle of deaurāre to gild. See de-, aurum, -ate1

Dorado

[duh-rah-doh; for 1 also Spanish daw-rah-th aw]
noun, genitive Do·ra·dus [duh-rah-duh s] /dəˈrɑ dəs/ for 2.
  1. a city in N Puerto Rico.
  2. the Swordfish, a small southern constellation between Volans and Horologium.
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Origin of Dorado

From Spanish, dating back to 1595–1605; see origin at dorado

El Dorado

[el duh-rah-doh, -rey- or, Spanish, el daw-rah-th aw for 1, 2; el duh-rey-doh for 3, 4]
noun
  1. a legendary treasure city of South America, sought by the early Spanish explorers.
  2. any place offering great wealth.
  3. a city in S Arkansas.
  4. a town in S Kansas.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dorado

Historical Examples

  • Scarcely could you say he became more at his ease, more the boon compaero and dorado.

    The Wolf Cub

    Patrick Casey

  • Morales had called him his dorado, his brave little golden one!

    The Wolf Cub

    Patrick Casey

  • This is the guaracapema of Piso and Marcgrave, by others called the dorado.

  • “Orange the best bait for a dorado,” said the Italian softly, as he placed the point of the hook to his satisfaction.

    Rob Harlow's Adventures

    George Manville Fenn

  • The fish course included the royal sturgeon, the dorado or sword-fish, the turbot.

British Dictionary definitions for dorado

dorado

noun
  1. another name for dolphin (def. 3)
  2. a South American river fish of the genus Salminus that resembles a salmon
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Dorado

noun Latin genitive Doradus (dəˈrɑːdəs)
  1. a constellation in the S hemisphere lying between Reticulum and Pictor and containing part of the Large Magellanic cloud
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Word Origin

C17: from Spanish, from dorar to gild, from Latin de- + -aurāre, from aurum gold

El Dorado

noun
  1. a fabled city in South America, rich in treasure and sought by Spanish explorers in the 16th century
  2. Also: eldorado any place of great riches or fabulous opportunity
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Word Origin

C16: from Spanish, literally: the gilded (place)
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
dorado in Culture

El Dorado

[(el duh-rah-doh)]

A place of fabulous wealth, or an opportunity to obtain it. During the gold rush many adventurers believed that California would be their El Dorado. The name comes from the name of a legendary South American city of stupendous riches sought by Spanish conquistadores.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.