Golden

How to spell golden

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce golden

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does golden mean?

1. adjectiveMade of gold, coloured like gold, or figuratively precious, ideal, or flourishing.

Golden in a sentence

• The morning sun gave the fields a soft golden glow.

• The new job was a golden opportunity she could not ignore.

Where does golden come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes from the Old English 'gylden' or 'golden', formed from 'gold', the name of the precious metal, plus the suffix '-en' that turned a material into an adjective meaning 'made of' or 'looking like' that material. The same pattern survives in pairs such as 'wood' and 'wooden' or 'wool' and 'woollen'. The metal name itself traces back to a Germanic root linked to a sense of 'yellow' or 'gleaming', so the colour idea was baked in from the start. Over the centuries the spelling settled with the simple '-en' ending, and the word also took on figurative shades, describing something precious, flourishing, or ideal, as in a 'golden opportunity' or a 'golden age'. Because the root is plainly visible, the word stays easy to spell, which is unusual for words with this much history.

How the word is built

• gold (the metal)
• -en (adjective suffix meaning 'made of' or 'resembling')