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Akavall Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

"Gold" vs. "Golden"

What is the difference between "Gold" and "Golden" when used as an adjective?

For example, should I say, "Gold ring" or "Golden ring"? Is there any difference in the meaning?

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

Adjective "gold" means "of gold" - the real deal. " But you really need to check the context. I'm sure the Golden Earrings in the song of the same name are the real deal.

— Avangi

  • Adjective "gold" means "of gold" - the real deal.
  • " But you really need to check the context.
  • I'm sure the Golden Earrings in the song of the same name are the real deal.
  • And probably golden things refered to in the bible are supposed to be of real gold.
  • On the other hand, you can say "It has a gold/golden color," and neither adjective refers to real gold.
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13 Answers
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Adjective "gold" means "of gold" - the real deal. "Golden" means "having the appearance of gold." But "I'm putting a gold star on your homework paper" means "golden star."

But you really need to check the context. I'm sure the Golden Earrings in the song of the same name are the real deal. And probably golden things refered to in the bible are supposed to be of real gold. On the o
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AvangiAdjective "gold" means "of gold" - the real deal. "Golden" means "having the appearance of gold." But "I'm putting a gold star on your homework paper" means "golden star."

But you really need to check the context. I'm sure the Golden Earrings in the song of the same name are the real deal. And probably golden things refered to in the bible are
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Thank you for the replies.

I am sure that I could figure out whether the real gold or just a gold color is being talked about, given the context
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Hi,
my dictionary says:

Golden: having a bright yellow color like gold.

Then there are other meanings, like "golden ages", etc., and then they also say:
Literary: made of gold.

I think those are the most common "modern" meanings. So golden should refer mainly to the color
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Common collocations:


a gold watch, a gold ring, a gold disc, a gold bar, the gold standard, the Gold Rush, fool's gold, a gold medal, a gold mine, a goldfinch, a gold star, the Gold Coast, a gold card (credit card), etc.

golden oriole, golden retriever, golden words, the golden rule, the golden number, the golden section, the Golden Globe, the golden ratio, the Golden
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Again, thanks for the replies. I understand it a lot better now, and I guess "gold ring" is the way go Emotion: smile.
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Despite giving my two cents' worth rather late, perhaps my understanding of the difference between 'gold' and 'golden' is still of interest to you.  

I will approach this from a grammatical point of view.

"gold" is a noun, and "golden" is an adjective. 

When "gold" is placed before another noun, it functions as part of a compound noun.  Examples include: gold mine, gold
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As I was taught, it is about the morphology of adjectives. It can probably help you to find out sth about Inherent / noninherent adjectives.

Tomy.
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I can confirm this.

Generally the noun gold is used to name the material something is made of, while the adjective golden has a more metaphorical meaning.

This does not only count for gold but among others silk, lead, and stone.
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Gold is not only a noun. It is both a noun and an adjective.

Al Stokes
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