gildingn.
/ˈɡɪldɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈɡɪldɪŋ/ 1.
a. The action or process of covering a surface with a thin layer of gold or (in later use sometimes) an imitation of this; (in early use esp.) the action or process of covering a surface with gold leaf. Also: an instance of this. Cf. gild v.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > gilding and silvering > [noun] > gilding
gilding1440
giltinga1450
overgiltingc1450
overgilding1477
deauration1706
inauration1706
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 193 Gyldynge wythe golde, deauracio.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 50 The sporier and the cuteler be leerned in thilk point of goldsmyth craft which is gilding.
1480 Wardrobe Accts. Edward IV in N. H. Nicolas Privy Purse Expenses Elizabeth of York (1830) 125 For bynding gilding and dressing of a booke called Titus Livius.
1537 in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (1850) 128 I geve to the gyldyng of the ij angells on the candelbeme xxvj s. viij d.
1613 Specif. Worcester Cathedral Organ in A. Boden Thomas Tomkins (2005) vii. 92 The guilding and painting to William Peacey 77[li] 08[s] 00[d].
1688 G. Parker & J. Stalker Treat. Japaning (title page) The Method of Guilding,..with the Art..of Painting Mezzo-tinto-Prints.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Deauration, a gilding, or laying over with Gold.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. v. 54 The continual waste of them [sc. gold and silver] in gilding and plating. View more context for this quotation
1821 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 18 Aug. 2/1 (advt.) House, Sign Painting, Gilding, &c.
1866 J. E. T. Rogers Hist. Agric. & Prices I. xxi. 533 The art of gilding was familiarly known to our forefathers.
1906 Fairbanks (Alaska) Evening News 27 Aug. While the second gilding was in progress I saw a lot of men and women..gathered in front of a great ikon.
1924 A. J. Allmand & H. J. T. Ellingham Princ. Appl. Electrochem. (ed. 2) xvii. 359 If used at low temperatures (for the gilding of large objects), it may contain up to 10 grams/litre gold as KAu(CN)2.
1976 Jrnl. Royal Soc. Arts 124 567/2 They [sc. Islamic metalwork techniques] include casting, damascening, niello, engraving, gilding, and a form of raising related to repoussé.
2005 Philadelphia Oct. 139/1 A decorative artisan who specializes in gilding.
b. The material used in or the surface produced by gilding; (also) a gilded surface.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > gilding and silvering > [noun] > gilding > articles > surface
gilding1632
1632 J. Weemes Expos. Lawes of Moses II. 31 There was no such gilding in the second Temple.
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 32 In the second story the beauty of the rooms is the gilding on the roof, which seems to be very rich.
1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe iv. 55 The Metall's base the Gilding worn away.
1752 D. Garrick Let. 1 Sept. (1963) I. 189 My Wife desires you'll bid ye Maids dust ye red Room & Pictures, but to care of Gilding & Carving.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. xi. 216 No paint or dye can give so splendid a colour as gilding . View more context for this quotation
1818 A. E. Stothard Lett. Tour Normandy (1820) viii. 83 The apartments are decorated with rich gildings, but by no means in an elegant taste.
a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. xxiii. 112 The streets were crowded with gazers who admired the painting and gilding of his Excellency's carriages.
1909 Daily Chron. 20 Mar. 4/5 The ball-room..is panelled with dark French boiserie work, the wood embellished with gilding.
1988 R. Feild & C. Dale Which? Guide to buying Antiques (rev. ed.) 16/2 There was much ormolu and gilding, intricate swirling designs adapted from French rococo.
2002 Church Times 18 Jan. 28/4 His sculpture of St John Nepomuk, carved in wood and decorated with polychrome and gilding, is particularly refined.
2011 A. Mounier et al. in I. Turbanti-Memmi Proc. 37th Internat. Symp. Archaeometry i. 274 Most of these gildings are composed of gold sheets.
2. figurative and figurative contexts, esp. with reference to adorning or embellishing something to make it seem attractive, reputable, etc.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [noun] > embellishment
ornatinga1492
colouring1509
gilding1647
garniture1725
emblazonrya1807
garnish1825
fancification1937
1647 S. Rutherford Christ Dying 277 Fancie, led with some gilding of apparent or seeming good, as hope of food, doth allure and draw the bird to the grin.
a1672 Bp. J. Wilkins Of Princ. Nat. Relig. (1675) i. vi. 80 There are such inimitable gildings and embroideries in the smallest seeds of Plants.
1678 Several Disc. by Way of Ess., Verse & Prose 142 in Wks. of Abraham Cowley (ed. 5) I well content the Avarice of my sight With the fair gildings of reflected Light.
1728 E. Young Love of Fame i, in Wks. (1757) I. 87 I envy none the gilding of their woe.
1789 A. Young Jrnl. 21 Dec. in Trav. France (1792) i. 257 These laughable adventures, with the gilding of a bright sun, made the day pass pleasantly.
1823 W. Scott St. Ronan's Well III. iii. 69 Your friend, sir, must at least strip his proposals of their fine gilding.
1919 J. C. Mendenhall Aureate Terms i. 7 Such long and supposedly elegant words have been dubbed ‘aureate terms’, because..they represent a kind of verbal gilding of literary style.
2014 P. Mountford Dismal Sci. 243 This temporary gilding of his reputation did not last.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > yellow or yellowness > [noun] > golden yellow
goldOE
gold colour1547
goldness1657
goldishness1671
aventurine1791
goldenness1829
gilding1851
orange-gold1859
buttercup yellow1863
old gold1871
red-gold1884
Tuscan1887
honey1981
1851 M. H. Perley Rep. Fisheries Bay of Fundy 27 The herrings were observed to be particularly well cured, and of fine colour; this ‘gilding’ as is termed, is given by the use of hard wood only, with which the last smoking is done.
1889 Cent. Dict. Gilding, a rich golden color imparted to herrings by the use of hard wood only in smoking them.
Compounds
General attributive (in various technical terms).† gilding-cage n. Obsolete (in fire gilding) a cylindrical metal cage used to heat objects coated with a gold amalgam so as to evaporate the mercury in the amalgam; see fire gilding n. at fire n. and int. Compounds 2a.† gilding-cap n. Obsolete (in fire gilding) a hat-shaped felt receptacle in which items to be gilded are placed, before the addition of gilding amalgam; see fire gilding n. at fire n. and int. Compounds 2a.
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1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 219/2 The ‘gilding-cage’ is made in a cylindrical form..It is formed of coarse iron-wire gauze [etc.].
1860 C. Knight Eng. Cycl.: Arts & Sci. IV. 381 They are put, in their wet state, with the generated nitrate of copper still hanging about them, into the gilding-cage.
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1809 W. Nicholson Brit. Encycl. II. at Button The amalgam with which they are covered becomes fluid, and seems disposed to run into drops, on which they are thrown into a large felt cap, called a gilding cap.
1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 220/1 The ‘gilding-cap’, which is a white felt hat of a peculiar sort and shape.
gilding metal n. a type of brass containing a high proportion of copper and having a reddish-brown or bronze-gold tint.Gilding metal typically contains at least 85% copper.
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1827 Morning Chron. 27 Jan. A clerk named Hutchins..proved having sold to the prisoners, Walker, Buckley, and Andrews, between two and three tons weight of brass flatted to three different thicknesses, and gilding metal.
1842 G. W. Francis Dict. Arts Gilding Metal, an alloy composed of 4 parts of copper, 1 part of Bristol old brass, and 14 ounces of tin, to every pound of copper.
1956 W. T. Amison Introd. Stud Welding i. 21 Brass is the name given to copper zinc alloys of approximately 55% to 80% copper, some alloys above this range being generally called gilding metals mainly because of their colour.
2014 Hastings & St. Leonards (E. Sussex) Observer (Nexis) 5 Dec. The teapot..was hand crafted in gilding metal, nylon and silver plate.
gilding press n. (a) a machine used for imprinting gilding on a book cover, paper, etc.; (b) Bookbinding a screw press in which books are held while being gilded.
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1847 N.Y. Herald 29 Oct. (advt.) A Stamping and Gilding Press—A new and improved article, to work by steam power or treadle, manufactured and for sale.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 398/1 Gilding-press, a book-binder's press for gilding covers and edges of books.
1946 E. Diehl Bookbinding I. vii. 171 The book is put in a gilding press between gilding boards.
2011 K. Johansson et al. Guide to Graphic Print Production (ed. 3) 356 With these materials it is common to use a gilding press to print the cover.
gilding size n. a size (size n.2) that is applied to a surface to provide a suitable ground for gold leaf or other form of gilding.
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1758 R. Dossie Handmaid to Arts I. iii. i. §iv. 381 Some add a little vermilion to the gilding size.
1816 Edinb. Encycl. (1830) X. 279/1 The gilding size which is to cement the gold leaf, is now applied hot.
2014 Hamilton (Ont.) Spectator (Nexis) 13 Sept. g5 Kits come with metallic leaf, gilding size and acrylic clear coat.
gilding tool n. Bookbinding a metal stamp attached to a handle used to add a gilded design to a book cover.
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1741 Chambers's Cycl. (ed. 4) at Book-binding All these ornaments are made with each its several gilding-tool, engraven in relievo.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. II. 967/1 (caption) Bookbinders' Gilding-Tools.
2006 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. (Nexis) 4 Nov. (caption) Mark Kirchner applies gold leaf with a gilding tool to create a fine line across a book's spine.
gilding wax n. (a) a wax used to burnish or heighten the lustre of gilding; (b) a wax used to give a surface a gold or metallic finish.
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1738 G. Smith tr. Laboratory i. 12 You heighten the Colour with Gilding-Wax, as shall be directed.
1838 Edinb. Encycl. X. 278/1 Gilding wax is compounded of bees wax and red chalk in equal quantities, with French verdigris and alum or green vitriol..The use of the wax seems to be only to flow, and carry the other ingredients to every part of the surface, and to determine the proper degree of heat to be applied.
1974 N. Goodison Ormolu iv. 71 The other common process..consisted of covering the gilt object with a composition called gilding wax and then applying heat.
1984 S. Allen Wood Finisher's Handbk. x. 134/1 When the paint is dry, use a cloth to wipe the gilding wax onto the high points of the carving, letting the paint show in the low areas.
2011 Times & Transcript (New Brunswick) (Nexis) 24 Dec. h 6 Head for the kitchen and grab your pears... Apply gilding wax to a cloth and burnish the green surface until light coverage is achieved.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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