gold leafn.
/ˌɡəʊl(d) ˈliːf/, U.S. /ˌɡoʊl(d) ˈlif/, /ˈɡoʊl(d) ˌlif/ a. Gold beaten into an extremely thin sheet.In technical use, gold leaf denotes a thinner sheet than gold foil (gold foil n.).
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OE Vercelli Homilies (1992) x. 210 Þeah..þa ricestan hatan him reste gewyrcan of marmanstane & of oðrum goldfrætewum..& mid dieorwyrðum wyrtgemengnessum eall geseted & mid goldleafum geþread [lOE Faust. A.ix mid goldleafum gestrewed] ymbutan [L. in lectis aureis].
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes Alexis of Piemount v. f. 93v Take golde leaues beaten, and foure droppes of hony.
1605 J. Mosan tr. C. Wirsung Gen. Pract. Physick vi. 664 Sugar one ounce, wine of Granado, and sirupe of Limons, of each halfe an ounce, ten or twelue gold leaues; then mingle all together to the consistence of a confection.
1678 tr. M. Charas Royal Pharmacopœa 148 The Saffron-colour, the taste of Myrrh, and the beauty of the Gold-Leaves.
1729 J. A. Blondel Power of Mother's Imagination over Foetus Examin'd 46 A plain Journeyman Silver-Smith..discovered the [Gold] Tooth to be nothing else but an ordinary Tooth, to which some Gold Leaves were carefully applied to favor the Cheat.
?1787 Artist's Repository & Drawing Mag. 3 48 Gold Shell..is made by grinding very finely gold leaves..with a little honey.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 611 Skins prepared from ox-gut are now interposed between each gold leaf.
1866 R. M. Ferguson Electricity 94 Electricity of too low a tension to affect immediately the gold leaves can be condensed, so as to possess the power.
1939 Pop. Mech Feb. 183/1 These red rays fall on two thin gold leaves attached to the wires of a tiny galvanometer.
1980 Old-house Jrnl. Oct. 151/2 A book of 25 genuine gold leaves costs $14.–$38. depending on the price of gold.
2017 Nation (Thailand) (Nexis) 15 Feb. The walls, ceiling and wooden pillars are traditionally lacquered and covered with gold leaves.
b. In singular. Gold in this form used in decoration, gilding, etc.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > gilding and silvering > [noun] > gilding > gold leaf or plate
gold-foil1398
gold party1461
fulyie1488
rattle-gold1508
gold plate1549
gold leaf1573
leaf gold1576
feuille1662
gilt leaf1674
ormolu1765
gold plating1843
gold leafing1858
1573 J. Partridge Treasurie Commodious Conceits xxxvi. sig. D.i Lay on your Golde leafe wt a Conys tayle.
1664 R. Boyle Exper. & Considerations Colours iii. 198 We took a Leaf of such Foliated Gold as Apothecaries are wont to Gild their Pills with; and with the Edge of a Knife..laid upon the edge of the Gold Leaf.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Gold Leaf, or Beaten Gold, is Gold beaten with a Hammer, into exceedingly thin Leaves.
1785 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 75 199 A strip of gold leaf one-eighth of an inch in diameter and a yard long.
1811 A. T. Thomson London Dispensatory ii. 47 The finest silver leaf being only one-third thicker than gold leaf.
1885 C. Bell tr. A. Woltmann & K. Woermann Hist. Painting II. ii. 53 The colours are bright and delicately shaded.., and the gilding is gold leaf.
1928 Motor Boating Jan. 100/1 Lettering with gold leaf makes an attractive and a durable way in which to identify the boat.
1959 Pop. Mech. Jan. 252/2 How does one apply gold leaf, such as is so often seen on old picture frames?
1984 C. Gere et al. Art of Jeweller I. vi. 82/2 A Renaissance-style profile head of a bearded man, executed in gold leaf in low relief on a raised composition.
2016 Canberra Times (Nexis) 4 Nov. 30 Lovegrove has studied the art of classical Persian miniature painting and faithfully reproduces..traditional ornamental borders with their vivid blues, reds and pinks, and striking areas of gilded shiny gold leaf.
Compounds
attributive. Designating scientific instruments in which the movement of a piece of gold leaf is used to detect (the magnitude of) an electric current, as gold leaf electrometer, gold leaf electroscope, gold leaf galvanoscope, etc. Now chiefly historical.
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1788 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 78 8 The first plate A is placed upon the gold-leaf electrometer.
1804 C. H. Wilkinson Elements Galvanism II. xxv. 308 (heading) The exquisite sensibility of the fibres of a frog to electricity, compared to the gold-leaf electroscope.
1812 H. Davy Elements Chem. Philos. 168 An insulated gold leaf electrometer.
1832 P. M. Roget Treat. Electr., Galvanism, Magnetism, & Electro-magnetism viii. 45/1 The construction of the Gold-leaf Galvanoscope is similar to that of Bennet's electrometer.
1866 R. M. Ferguson Electricity 53 A gold leaf electroscope.
1937 Ann. Sci. 2 167 Cumming..described what may be looked upon as a forerunner of the string galvanometer. This was the gold-leaf galvanometer, in which a gold leaf stretched vertically in a glass tube was included in the circuit.
1995 E. A. Davis Sci. in Making I. vi. 296 A charged brass ball, suspended by a thread, is lowered inside a pewter vessel connected on its outside to a gold-leaf electrometer.
2002 F. Close et al. Particle Odyssey ii. 22 (caption) The gold-leaf electroscope..was one of the earliest instruments used in studying electrical phenomena.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
gold leafv.
/ˌɡəʊld ˈliːf/, U.S. /ˌɡoʊld ˈlif/, /ˈɡoʊl(d) ˌlif/ transitive. To apply gold leaf to (something).
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > gilding and silvering > gild and silver [verb (transitive)] > ornament with gold or silver leaf
tinsel1851
gold leaf1877
1877 St. Louis (Missouri) Globe-Democrat 8 Feb. 2/5 Ah Wong had a large panel sign board with his name gaudily painted and gold-leafed thereon.
1903 Rep. Archæological Work in Burma 1902–3 1 Gold-leafing the tombs of Mindôn Min, Mèdawgyi, and Nanmadawgyi; completed in August 1900.
1935 Illustr. London News 5 Oct. 567 The bronze is to be chased, burnished, gold-leafed, and lacquered in situ.
1969 Kenyon Rev. 31 106 What I did, I think in effect, was to gold leaf the piece, and then scrumble layers of paint over it so I had this translucency.
2003 S. Choi Amer. Woman (2004) i. 10 She's..gold-leafing the fireplace or restaining the sideboard.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.OE
v.1877