golden age

[ gohl-dn eyj- ]

noun

1. the most flourishing period in the history of a nation, literature, etc.
2. Classical Mythology. the first and best of the four ages of humankind; an era of peace and innocence that finally yielded to the silver age.
3. (usually initial capital letters) a period in Latin literature, 70 b.c. to a.d. 14, in which Cicero, Catullus, Horace, Vergil, Ovid, and others wrote; the first phase of Classical Latin. Compare silver age ( def 2 ).
4. the period in life after middle age, traditionally characterized by wisdom, contentment, and useful leisure.
5. the age at which a person normally retires.

golden age

noun

1. classical myth the first and best age of mankind, when existence was happy, prosperous, and innocent
2. the most flourishing and outstanding period, esp in the history of an art or nation

   the golden age of poetry

3. the great classical period of Latin literature, occupying approximately the 1st century bc and represented by such writers as Cicero and Virgil

Word History and Origins

Origin of golden age¹

First recorded in 1545–55

Idioms and Phrases

A period of prosperity or excellent achievement, as in Some consider the baroque period the golden age of choral music . The expression dates from the mid-1500s, when it was first applied to a period of classical Latin poetry.

Example Sentences

Set at the Polo Grounds in New York, the cartoon also presaged a golden age of baseball that saw the city’s three teams dominate the national pastime.

From Washington Post

We are living in the golden age of condensed matter physics.

From Nautilus

Compared to 2020, all previous years, even the Disco Era, were the golden age of human existence.

From Washington Post

In 2018, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe got closer to the sun than any other spacecraft has before, and this year the golden age of “heliophysics” continued.

From Popular-Science

I get to test a lot of great underwear as a result of this golden age, but when I need a little extra comfort, I reach for the ReActive.

From Outside Online

The Second Republic was also considered the another golden age for Korean Cinema.

From The Daily Beast

“The golden age of Parisian smiles nurtured, and was nurtured by, the rise of dentistry as a vocation,” writes Jones.

From The Daily Beast

Yet you are also bringing them back to something belletristic that harkens back to an editorial golden age.

From The Daily Beast

My golden age comes to a halt with the ascendancy of music videos.

From The Daily Beast

Cast an eye over the history of the Supreme Court, and you will see no golden age of apolitical judging.

From The Daily Beast

I have an indistinct memory of a beautiful passage in Ovid, which describes the Golden Age.

From Project Gutenberg

Michael often looked back to that first term in the Lower Third as a period of Arcadian simplicity, a golden age.

From Project Gutenberg

In our study of Raphael, we had a glimpse of the golden age of art in Italy.

From Project Gutenberg

She is not content to fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden age.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Burns had read the Golden Age, and pronounced it a smart publication.

From Project Gutenberg