El Dorado
noun
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In the early 1500s, Spanish conquistadores heard tales of an Amazonian king who regularly coated his body with gold dust, then plunged into a nearby lake to wash it off while being showered with gold and jewels thrown by his subjects. The Spaniards called the city ruled by this flamboyant monarch El Dorado, Spanish for "gilded one," and the story of the gold-covered king eventually grew into a legend of a whole country paved with gold. These days, El Dorado can also used generically for any place of vast riches, abundance, or opportunity. It is also the name of actual cities in Arkansas and Kansas.
Examples of El Dorado in a Sentence
Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 22 Mar. 2024
He has been incarcerated at prisons across the eastern half of Kansas, including in Hutchinson, Winfield, El Dorado and Topeka.
—Luke Nozicka, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
The rest of the state, mostly the eastern third, including Pine Bluff, Jonesboro and El Dorado, is at a marginal risk for severe weather.
—Remington Miller, arkansasonline.com, 12 Mar. 2024
Los Alamitos 4, El Dorado 3: CJ Berthon delivered the walk-off hit for 7-1 Los Alamitos.
—Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2024
For many African migrants, El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia, is now one stop on the long journey to the United States.
—Terence McGinley, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
The woman was on parole, so the officers searched the vehicle and found a large black garbage bag in the trunk that contained more than 500 pieces of mail from addresses in the Folsom and El Dorado Hills areas, according to the Police Department.
—Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 7 Mar. 2024
State Highway 50 was open but snow tires were required from 9 miles east of Placerville to Meyers, in El Dorado County.
—Rick Hurd, The Mercury News, 2 Mar. 2024
Enriched by the agile, near-cartoonish drawings of Morris, Lucky Luke is a comedic Western in the vein of Destry Rides Again and El Dorado, with the occasional splash of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti mystique.
—Ernesto Lechner, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'El Dorado.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Spanish, literally, the gilded one
1596, in the meaning defined at sense 1
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Cite this Entry
“El Dorado.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/El%20Dorado. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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More from Merriam-Webster on El Dorado
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about El Dorado
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