gold
Pluralgold (some meanings), golds (some meanings)
Pluralgold (some meanings), golds (some meanings)
- 1A heavy yellow metallic element of great value, with atomic number 79 and the chemical symbol Au.
Gold has been prized for jewelry and currency for thousands of years.
The wedding ring was made of pure gold.
UsageNo a in general statements: gold is heavy, a ring made of gold.
- 2A first-place medal, awarded to the winner of a competition.
He took gold at the national championships for the third time.
Their gymnasts brought home four golds from the meet.
UsageUsually win or take gold, with no article; medals are counted as golds: two golds and a silver.
- 3Having the color of gold; a rich, deep yellow.
The sky glowed gold over the hills at sunset.
His tie was gold with thin diagonal stripes.
UsageGolden is also common for this color, especially for hair, light and fields: golden hair.
Similargolden
- 4Made of gold.
The king drank from a gold cup at every banquet.
A thin gold chain hung around her neck.
UsageFor the metal itself, usually gold before a noun: a gold ring, a gold watch; golden more often describes color.
- 5A deep shade of yellow that resembles the color of gold metal.
The painter mixed a warm gold for the glow of the sunset.
She trimmed the invitation in gold to make it feel festive.
- 6
- 7Someone or something regarded as extremely valuable or precious.
A reliable teammate like her is gold under pressure.
The unpublished interviews turned out to be gold for the documentary.
UsageOften in pure gold or comedy gold, or after be: she is gold under pressure.
Similartreasure
- 8Of a musical recording, having reached the sales level, including streaming equivalents, required for gold certification, such as 500,000 units in the US.
The band celebrated when their debut went gold overseas.
Two tracks from the EP were certified gold this year.
UsageUsually after go or certified: the album went gold, certified gold.
Note
Music sales are ranked in metal tiers, and the usual verb is go: an album goes gold, then platinum, as Billboard put it in 2000. The same phrase go gold turns up in software with an unrelated origin; that use is covered under the "ready for release" sense.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Music certification uses metal tiers, including gold and platinum. riaa.com
- Billboard used the wording about an album going gold, then platinum, in 2000. worldradiohistory.com
- Software also uses go gold, with an origin separate from music sales certification. en.wiktionary.org
- 9A coin or coinage made of the metal gold, or supposedly so.
Soldiers were paid in gold during the long campaign.
The merchant counted out forty pieces of gold and laid them on the counter for the silk.
Less common meanings
- 10Of a product or software, in a finished state, ready for manufacturing or release.
The studio announced that the title had gone gold two weeks before launch.
Engineers froze the code the moment the build went gold.
UsageUsually in go gold: the build went gold two weeks before launch.
Note
The software use comes from a separate source: the gold master, the copy of the code certified as ready for release. The idiom is nearly always go gold, as in the 2004 announcement that Half-Life 2 had gone gold ahead of its street date. Developers treat it as the finish line, which is why Damion Schubert recalls adding guilds to the game Meridian 59 over a weekend shortly before going gold as cutting it close.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The software sense derives from gold master, meaning a copy certified as ready for release. en.wiktionary.org
- A 2004 announcement stated that Half-Life 2 had gone gold before its planned retail release. shacknews.com
- Developers describe the gold master as the finish line. en.wiktionary.org
- Damion Schubert recalled coding guilds into M59 over a weekend shortly before its scheduled gold milestone, describing the work as rushed. gamedeveloper.com
- M59 is the abbreviation for Meridian 59. en.wikipedia.org
- 11
- 12A decorative covering of gold worn over the front teeth; a gold grill.
He had his golds fitted by a custom jeweler downtown.
The rapper's golds caught the light every time he spoke.
Similargrill
- 13To appear golden, or to make something appear golden.
- 14Of academic publishing: involving an open-access model in which the publisher makes the final article free to read, and usually to reuse, on its own site as soon as it is published.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Middle English gold, from Old English gold, going back through Proto-Germanic *gulþą to a Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰelh₃- meaning "green, yellow." It is related to the word yellow, and has cognates such as Dutch goud, German Gold, and Swedish guld.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- English gold descends from Middle English gold and Old English gold. en.wiktionary.org
- The ancestry passes through Proto-Germanic *gulþą to the stated Indo-European root and color meanings. en.wikipedia.org
- Gold is etymologically related to yellow. en.wiktionary.org
- Dutch goud and German Gold are cognates of English gold. en.wikisource.org
- Swedish guld shares the reconstructed Germanic ancestor of English gold. en.wiktionary.org
Software makers call the copy of the code that is approved for release the "gold master," and this sense grew out of that term.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- A gold master is the finished software version approved for release. en.wiktionary.org
- The software sense of gold derives from gold master. en.wiktionary.org