golden oakn.adj.
/ˌɡəʊld(ə)n ˈəʊk/, U.S. /ˌɡoʊld(ə)n ˈoʊk/ A. n.
1. U.S. Either of two yellow-flowered perennial plants of eastern North America which are partially parasitic on oaks, Aureolaria virginica and A. flava (family Orobanchaceae). Now historical and rare.These plants are now usually called false foxglove.
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1830 C. S. Rafinesque Med. Flora U.S. II. 223 Gerardia Quercifolia, Mx. Golden Oak. Specific of the Sioux for the bite of rattle snakes, used also for the tooth ache.
1913 N. L. Britton & A. Brown Illustr. Flora Northern U.S. (ed. 2) III. 208 Dasystoma virginica... In dry or moist woods, Maine to Minnesota, south to Florida and Illinois. Golden-oak. July–Sept.
1923 Amer. Botanist 29 62 Gerardia flava is the ‘yellow foxglove’ or ‘downy false foxglove’ and Gerardia Virginica is the ‘smooth false foxglove’ or ‘golden oak’.
2004 D. F. Austin Florida Ethnobot. 128/1 Aureolaria flava..false foxglove golden oak.
2. Any of several oaks; spec. (a) the canyon live oak, Quercus chrysolepis, or any of a small group of western North American oaks related to this (= golden-cup oak n. at golden adj. and n. Compounds 4a); (b) a small evergreen oak native to Cyprus, Q. alnifolia, having leaves with a yellow underside.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > other oaks
red oakOE
cerre-tree1577
gall-tree1597
robur1601
kermes1605
live oak1610
white oak1610
royal oak1616
swamp-oak1683
grey oak1697
rock oak1699
chestnut oak1703
water oak1709
Spanish oak1716
turkey-oak1717
willow oak1717
iron oak1724
maiden oak1725
scarlet oak1738
black jack1765
post oak1775
durmast1791
mountain chestnut oak1801
quercitron oak1803
laurel oak1810
mossy-cup oak1810
rock chestnut oak1810
pin oak1812
overcup oak1814
overcup white oak1814
bur oak1815
jack oak1816
mountain oak1818
shingle-oak1818
gall-oak1835
peach oak1835
golden oak1838
weeping oak1838
Aleppo oak1845
Italian oak1858
dyer's oak1861
Gambel's Oak1878
maul oak1884
punk oak1884
sessile oak1906
Garry oak1908
roble1908
1838 C. S. Rafinesque Alsographia Americana 21 Quercus aureus Raf...—in Arkanzas [sic] and Texas, leaves 2 or 3 inches long, rather narrow, somewhat pandurate, with a golden gloss above. Golden Oak.
1880 Rep. Univ. Calif. Coll. Agric. 73 Acorns of Golden Oak (large live oak), Quercus chrysolepis.
1880 Garden 13 Nov. 486/1 (heading) The Golden Oak of Cyprus.
1919 Hardwood Rec. 25 Apr. 7/1 The golden oak which grows in California is not so named because of the color of its wood.
1969 H. D. Purcell Cyprus i. 18 Common small tree species are the golden oak, Quercus alnifolia, which exists naturally nowhere but in Cyprus, and Arbutus andrachne.
2006 K. C. Nixon in M. Kappelle Ecol. & Conservation Neotropical Montane Oak Forests i. 4 Within the genus Quercus, there have been traditionally recognized three distinct groups—the white oaks.., the red or black oaks.., and the intermediate or golden oaks.
2008 P. Regato & R. Salman Mediterranean Mountains in Changing World 72 (caption) The endemic golden oak (Quercus alnifolia), confined to the igneous geological complex of the Troodos Mountains in the island of Cyprus.
3. Any oak wood having a rich, golden colour; a wood finish or veneer resembling this in grain and colour. Also: a shade of yellowish-brown likened to this.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [noun] > yellowish brown
honey colour1571
hair-colour1615
butternut1810
cinnamon-brown1826
honey1888
cinnamon1895
walnut1895
golden oak1898
almond1923
Sahara1923
sand1923
sandalwood1926
1898 Sun (Indianapolis) 23 Feb. Extension table..made of golden oak.
1914 Wood Craft (Cleveland, Ohio) Jan. 97/2 This was the original oak finish, golden oak being somewhat along the same lines but much finer in effect.
1957 Financial Times 20 Sept. 15/2 Windows and all fittings ground floor in solid golden oak.
2018 Globe & Mail (Toronto) (Nexis) 15 Feb. a11 The skin [of the roast duck] is the shade of golden oak lacquered to glassy crispness.
B. adj.
Made of oak wood having a rich, golden colour; resembling such wood in grain or colour. Also: of the colour of this wood; yellowish-brown.
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the world > matter > colour > named colours > brown or brownness > [adjective] > yellowish brown
yellow-dun1593
honey-coloured1603
cinnamon-coloured1679
cinnamon1685
lurid1767
rhubarb1792
tombac-brown1794
sherry-bay1856
khaki1863
khaki coloured1879
golden oak1883
rhubarby1885
crotal1901
brown-gold1909
Sahara1923
safari1934
1883 Lancaster Gaz. 3 Nov. A striking model in Ottoman silk is of a golden oak shade, embossed with walnut velvet scrolls.
1899 Chicago Daily News 30 May 14/3 Solid golden oak finish handsome dressers.
1928 F. N. Hart Bellamy Trial i. 2 Nine rows of the golden-oak seats packed with grimly triumphant humanity.
1969 New Yorker 25 Oct. 58/1 His wife was black and blue as a new stovepipe, but their children and grandchildren are best described as ‘golden oak’.
2006 N. Y. Times (Nexis) 20 Apr. f2 A motley assortment of graceless golden oak furniture from the early 1900's.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1830