section_path: History/Etymology
section_name: Etymology
paragraph_text: Etymology
  
  Gold is cognate with similar words in many Germanic languages, deriving via Proto-Germanic * gulþą from Proto-Indo-European * ǵʰelh₃- ' to shine, to gleam; to be yellow or green '.
  
  The symbol Au is from the Latin aurum ' gold '. The Proto-Indo-European ancestor of aurum was *h₂é-h₂us-o-, meaning ' glow '. This word is derived from the same root (Proto-Indo-European *h₂u̯es- ' to dawn ') as *h₂éu̯sōs, the ancestor of the Latin word aurora ' dawn '. This etymological relationship is presumably behind the frequent claim in scientific publications that aurum meant ' shining dawn '.