From PIE *gʰelh₃- (to shine) — the same root as 'yellow,' making gold literally 'the shining thing,' named for its color.
Of a rich, warm yellow colour resembling the precious metal gold.
From Old English "gold" (gold, the metal), from Proto-Germanic *gulþą, derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (to shine, to gleam), a chromatic root that also gave rise to words for yellow, green, and bile across the family. The PIE root produced Sanskrit "hiraṇya" (gold) and "hari" (yellow, tawny), Avestan "zaranya" (gold), Latin "helvus" (honey-yellow), Lithuanian "geltonas" (yellow), and Old Church Slavonic "zlato" (gold). The Germanic branch shows the characteristic Grimm's Law shift of PIE *ǵʰ to Proto-Germanic *g. The word has been remarkably