goldsmithn.
/ˈɡəʊl(d)smɪθ/, U.S. /ˈɡoʊl(d)ˌsmɪθ/ 1. † b. In the 17th and 18th centuries: a person who, in addition to working or dealing in gold, carries out some of the functions of a banker. Obsolete.Cf. the use of banker to refer to goldsmiths: see quot. 1670-1 at banker n.2 1c. See also goldsmith note n. at Compounds 2.
a. A person who makes and repairs gold articles; a craftsman or craftswoman who works in gold. Later also: a person who deals in articles made of gold.Sometimes used more generally to refer to people who make or deal in items of jewellery or plate, whether they contain gold, silver, or some other precious metal.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > art of working in gold > goldsmith
goldsmithOE
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > workers with specific materials > metalworker > [noun] > worker in gold or silver > goldsmith
goldsmithOE
orfevera1450
gold worker1633
ridge cully1667
aurifex1862
OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) iv. 22 He gestrynde Tubalcain, se wæs ægðer ge goldsmið ge irensmið.
OE Inscription recording Gift, Thorney Abbey in N. R. Ker Catal. MSS containing Anglo-Saxon (1957) 163 Ælfric & Wulfwine, Eadgife goldsmiðes geafen to broþerrædenne twegen orn weghenes goldes þæt is on þis ilce boc her foruten gewired.
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 174 Alswa as þe gold smið clenseð þe gold inþe fur.
c1300 St. John Evangelist (Laud) l. 271 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 410 Þis goldsmiþes sworen..Þat so clene gold..huy ne seiȝen neuere.
c1330 (?c1300) Amis & Amiloun (Auch.) (1937) l. 244 To a gold-smitþe he gan go & lete make gold coupes.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1879) VII. 55 He telleþ þat Donston..made in a tyme a chalys by goldsmethes craft.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 711 (MED) Kyng Priamus..Ordeyned hath to dwellyn in þe toun..Gold-smythes first & riche Iowellers.
1464 in Manners & Househ. Expenses Eng. (1841) 253 Item, payd to the goldsmythe that made the bokelys,..x.s. iiij.d.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. KKiiiv There was yet neuer golde smythe that onely with beatynges of the hammer coude make a fayre ymage.
1575–6 Act 18 Elizabeth I c. 15 in Statutes of Realm (1963) IV. i. 625 No Goldsmythe..shall..use noe Sother..more then ys necessarie.
1600 Lady Hoby Diary 13 June (1930) 126 Then I talked with a goldsmith and bought some thing of him.
1681 H. Prideaux Lett. (1875) 98 The Alderman would not vouch for payment, and thereon the goldsmith would not prepare the plate.
1743 in R. Willis & J. W. Clark Archit. Hist. Univ. Cambr. (1886) I. 296 To George the goldsmith..for sothering on a pece of brass.
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 246 The inhabitants of Africa..dress their Gold-dust in small bowls, after the manner that Gold-smiths wash their sweeps.
1857 J. Ruskin Polit. Econ. Art i. 62 True goldsmith's work, when it exists, is generally the means of education of the greatest painters and sculptors of the day.
1889 Harper's Mag. Aug. 348/2 The ornament of the Russian architect and of the Russian goldsmith and metal worker is always a sort of tapestry or embroidery in very low relief.
1944 Antiquity 18 217 Amid the amazing expressions of the goldsmith's art which Scandinavia..produced between the late 4th and mid-5th centuries, perhaps the most interesting is the bracteates.
1964 R. Silverberg Man before Adam v. 110 He had a Chinese goldsmith fashion a clever little container, which he attached like a fob to his watch-chain.
2002 P. Long Guide to Rural Wales vii. 225 You can watch Rhiannon's jewellery being handcrafted by her own skilled goldsmiths in the Exhibition Workshops, where they create special jewellery in silver and gold.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [noun] > one conducting banking business
goldsmith1660
sahukar1785
bank monger1814
1660 S. Pepys Diary 4 July (1970) I. 192 Thence to Mr. Backewells the goldsmith.
1713 R. Steele in Guardian 13 Mar. 1/2 He gave me a Bill upon his Goldsmith in London.
1790 S. Kyd Treat. on Law of Bills of Exchange iii. 27 The plaintiff's servant the next morning left the notes with the goldsmiths, in order that they might have the money ready for him.
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel I. iv. 104 I am a goldsmith, and live by lending money as well as by selling plate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of subfamily Cetoniinae or genus Cetonia > cetonia aurata (rose-chafer)
dora1450
rose fly1680
rose chafer1704
rose-bug1706
rose beetle?1735
goldsmith1799
goldsmith beetle1841
1799 B. S. Barton Fragments Nat. Hist. Pennsylvania 5 (table) The Scarabaeus nitidus, called Gold-Smith, now appears in great numbers.
1832 T. Nuttall Man. Ornithol. U.S. & Canada: Land Birds 600 The food of the Martin is usually..large beetles, such as the common Cetonias or goldsmiths.
1874 Garden 21 Aug. 199/2 That large, handsome, shining, green and golden beetle, the Cetonia aurata, in the south of England called the goldsmith.
1928 G. E. Hodson Insects xvi. 88 So, as soon as the Goldsmiths came to the trees in the spring, Ann sought them out.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, as goldsmith craft, goldsmith work, etc.
ΚΠ
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 50 The sporier and the cuteler be leerned in thilk point of goldsmyth craft which is gilding.
c1475 St. Dunstan (BL Add. 11565) in R. Hamer & V. Russell Suppl. Lives ‘Gilte Legende’ (2000) 181 When he was wery of preyng, he vsed to werche goldesmyth werke with his hondes to sle therewith ydilnes.
a1509 (?1468) Acct. Marriage Margaret of York in Archaeologia (1846) 31 334 (MED) A short gowne of goldsmythe worke, the base of that gowne mervelously riche.
1683 J. Turner Pallas Armata i. x. 30 Their Harness cover'd with either Velvet or Cloath of Tissue, with Gold-smith work or Embroydery.
1825 T. Dwight Northern Traveller 42 There are in the village..14 taverns, 5 druggist stores,..5 saddle and harness makers' shops, 4 goldsmith shops, [etc.].
1863 R. F. Burton Wanderings W. Afr. II. 95 Their goldsmith craft..is not to be compared with the rudest East Indian work.
1908 Amer. Exporter Apr. 89/1 For the love of the ceramic art he gave up his goldsmith trade.
2003 Washington Post (Nexis) 9 Oct. t17 Combining traditional goldsmith work with unconventional materials, such as crab claws and plastic foam balls.
C2. † goldsmith's window n. Australian Mining slang (Obsolete rare) a claim that is rich in gold deposits.
goldsmith beetle n. either of two chafers (family Scarabaeidae) having elytra of a yellowish colour or metallic lustre: (in the United States) the large Cotalpa lanigera, and (in Europe) the rose chafer, Cetonia aurata.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of genus Coltapa (goldsmith)
goldsmith beetle1841
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Coleoptera or beetles and weevils > [noun] > Polyphaga (omnivorous) > superfamily Lamellicornia Scarabaeoidea > family Scarabaeidae > member of subfamily Cetoniinae or genus Cetonia > cetonia aurata (rose-chafer)
dora1450
rose fly1680
rose chafer1704
rose-bug1706
rose beetle?1735
goldsmith1799
goldsmith beetle1841
1841 T. W. Harris Rep. Insects Massachusetts 22 One of the most common, and the most beautiful of the tree-beetles of this country is the Areoda lanigera, or woolly Areoda, sometimes also called the goldsmith-beetle.
1901 M. C. Dickerson Moths & Butterflies iii. 274 The low willow by the side of the road has large goldsmith-beetles on it.
2007 E. R. Eaton & K. Kaufman Kaufman Field Guide Insects N. Amer. 144 Six species of the genus Cotalpa are widespread in the U.S. One of these, Cotalpa lanigera, is the goldsmith beetle or ‘gold bug’ of Edgar Allan Poe's short story.
2009 R. Lewis tr. G. Valdes et al. Capri 15/2 Obviously, this is the ideal habitat for many insects, like the Cetonia aurata or goldsmith beetle.
goldsmith note n. (also goldsmith's note) now historical a receipt or promissory note issued by a goldsmith, which in the 17th and 18th centuries had some of the functions of a banknote.
ΚΠ
1682 Tryal Nathaniel Thompson, William Pain, & John Farwell 52 I had taken from me when I was Apprehended and brought to Prison, two Goldsmiths Notes, one of 400l. another of 100l.
1696 J. Briscoe Def. Dr. H. Chamberlen's Bank of Land-credit (single sheet) (verso) Where Credit is not imposed..but to be free as Goldsmith Notes and Bank-Bills.
1719 W. Wood Surv. Trade (ed. 2) 340 All our large Payments are made generally in Exchequer Bills, Bank or Goldsmith notes.
1839 W. H. Ainsworth Jack Sheppard II. xvii. 79 You must dispose of the goldsmith's note I gave you yesterday, as soon as you arrive at Rotterdam.
1978 Jrnl. Soc. Archivists 6 30 Unlike simple receipts for money on deposit, goldsmiths' notes were both interest-bearing and negotiable instruments.
2006 K. W. Bender Moneymakers i. 20 On demand they made out deposit certificates, ‘goldsmith notes’, for these deliveries.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > gold-mine > rich
goldsmith's window1880
1880 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right xiv, in Town & Country Jrnl. 24 Apr. 798/3 This..was after we had worked out our ‘goldsmith's window’, as the adjacent diggers christened it.
Derivatives
ΚΠ
c1450 tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Lyfe Manhode (Cambr.) (1869) 183 I am quod she the goldsmithesse and the forgeresse of heuene.
ˈgoldˌsmithery n. (also goldsmithry) the craft or trade of a goldsmith; goldsmith's work; articles made by a goldsmith.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > working with specific materials > working with metal > [noun] > working with gold
goldsmithery1380
goldwork1761
goldsmithy1843
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > art of working in gold
goldsmithery1380
gold working1751
goldwork1761
goldsmithy1843
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > artistic work in metal > [noun] > art of working in gold > articles
orfevreriea1475
goldwork1481
goldsmithery1883
1380 in A. H. Thomas Cal. Plea & Mem. Rolls London Guildhall (1929) II. 268 (MED) [Pots touching the craft of] goldsmytherye, 6 d.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1640 Harneys..so ryche, and wroght so weel Of Goldsmythrye, of Broudyng and of steel.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende f. clxxxix/2 He knewe wel the crafte & arte of goldsmythrye.
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. A.vj With brydle braue with goldsmithrye ybet.
1647 W. Lilly Christian Astrol. cxlix. 632 Professions conversant in fire, whether it be in Smithery or working in Goldsmithery.
1803 Monthly Visitor Jan. 67 This morsel of goldsmithery is exceedingly elaborate in its workmanship.
1883 Athenæum 2 June 707 Works in iron, pewter, and bronze, as well as goldsmithery.
1979 Daily Tel. 15 Jan. 6/5 The crown..broke new ground in goldsmithry.
2010 N. MacGregor Hist. World in 100 Objects lxxvi. 492 The miniature gilded galleon is..a masterpiece of both technological skill and high artistic decoration, of mechanics and goldsmithery.
ˈgoldˌsmithing n. the craft or trade of a goldsmith.
ΚΠ
1852 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Patents 1850: Arts & Manuf. 373 (heading) in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (31st Congr., 2nd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc. 32, Pt. 1) VI Goldsmithing among the Aztecs.
1898 C. R. Ashbee (title) The treatises of Benvenuto Cellini on goldsmithing and sculpture.
1965 J. A. Michener Source (1966) 328 During the Babylonian captivity a few had acquired technical skills like goldsmithing, which their descendants still practiced.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 4 Jan. ix. 10/3 The collection included funerary pieces and tools used in traditional African goldsmithing.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.OE