Word of the Day

: August 26, 2007

auriferous

adjective aw-RIF-uh-russ

What It Means

: containing gold

auriferous in Context

The discovery of an auriferous region in California sparked the famous gold rush of 1849.

Did You Know?

Students in chemistry class learn that the chemical symbol for gold is "Au." That symbol is based on "aurum," the Latin word for the element. In the 17th century, English speakers coined "auriferous" by appending the "-ous" ending to the Latin adjective "aurifer," an offspring of "aurum" that means "containing gold" or "producing gold." (The "-fer" is from "ferre," a Latin verb meaning "to produce" or "to bear.") Not surprisingly, "auriferous" is a term that shows up in geological contexts. Some other descendants of "aurum" include "aureate" ("of a golden color" or "marked by grandiloquent style"), "auric" ("of, relating to, or derived from gold"), and the noun "or" ("the heraldic color gold or yellow").