Etymograph

English

aurum

Aurum comes from Latin aurum ‘gold’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- ‘to dawn, become light, become red’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ews-1‘to dawn, become light, become red’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éws-o-m1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*auzom1‘gold’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaurum2‘gold’
  5. Englishtodayaurum2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin aurum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English aurum

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂ews-Wiktionary, Latin aurum‘to dawn, become light, become red’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éws-o-mWiktionary, Latin aurumreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*auzomWiktionary, Latin aurum‘gold’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaurumWiktionary, English aurum‘gold’
  5. EnglishtodayaurumWiktionary, English aurum

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- ‘to dawn, become light, become red’

air, east, plane, aerial, malaria, exhaust, aria, aero, aurora, aura, austral, 62 more

through Latin aurum ‘gold’

or, oriel, oriole, aureus, aurelia, 19 more

Today it means

noun Gold (used in the names of various substances, see "Derived terms").

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “aurum”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin aurum. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- / aurum

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