English
auriferous
Auriferous comes from Latin aurifer ‘gold-bearing’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- ‘to become light’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ews-‘to become light’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*auzom‘gold’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaurum‘gold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaurifer‘gold-bearing’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1749auriferous
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ews-‘to become light’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*auzom‘gold’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaurum‘gold’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaurifer‘gold-bearing’
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1749auriferous
Earliest quotation: a. 1749, James Thomson, Summer: “Rocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines,…”
The story
The Latin term in turn derived from aurum (‘gold’) + ferō (‘to carry’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- ‘to become light’
air, east, plane, aerial, exhaust, malaria, aurora, aria, aura, aero, austral, 62 more
through Latin aurum ‘gold’
Today it means
adj Containing or producing gold; gold-bearing.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- / auriferous