English
golden
Golden comes from Middle English golden, a form of gilden restored after gold, from Old English gylden ‘golden’, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *gulþą ‘gold’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gulþą‘gold’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gulþīnaz‘golden’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gulþīnreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gylden‘golden’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gildenas gulden‘formed from gold’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500golden‘formed from gold’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gulþą‘gold’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*gulþīnaz‘golden’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*gulþīnreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150gylden‘golden’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500gildenas gulden‘formed from gold’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500golden‘formed from gold’
- Englishearliest quotation 1749same form
Earliest quotation: 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones: “And now the concern which Partridge felt at being…”
Formed from gold + -en
Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’
…
Proto-Germanic *gulþą ‘gold’
Proto-West Germanic *golþ
Old English gold ‘gold’
Middle English gold ‘gold’
English gold
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘yellow’
fell, yellow, chlorine, gall, felon, gullible, cholera, yolk, glib, choline, zloty, chlorella, gilder, 27 more
through Middle English gilden ‘Formed from gold’
Today it means
adj Made of, or relating to, gold.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *gulþą / golden