\Gold"en\, a. [OE. golden; cf. OE. gulden, AS. gylden,
from gold. See {Gold}, and cf. {Guilder}.]
1. Made of gold; consisting of gold.
2. Having the color of gold; as, the golden grain.
3. Very precious; highly valuable; excellent; eminently
   auspicious; as, golden opinions.
{Golden age}.
   (a) The fabulous age of primeval simplicity and purity of
       manners in rural employments, followed by the silver,
       bronze, and iron ages. --Dryden.
   (b) (Roman Literature) The best part (B. C. 81 -- A. D.
       14) of the classical period of Latinity; the time when
       Cicero, C[ae]sar, Virgil, etc., wrote. Hence:
   (c) That period in the history of a literature, etc., when
       it flourishes in its greatest purity or attains its
       greatest glory; as, the Elizabethan age has been
       considered the golden age of English literature.
{Golden balls}, three gilt balls used as a sign of a
   pawnbroker's office or shop; -- originally taken from the
   coat of arms of Lombardy, the first money lenders in
   London having been Lombards.
{Golden bull}. See under {Bull}, an edict.
{Golden chain} (Bot.), the shrub {Cytisus Laburnum}, so named
   from its long clusters of yellow blossoms.
{Golden club} (Bot.), an aquatic plant ({Orontium
   aquaticum}), bearing a thick spike of minute yellow
   flowers.
{Golden cup} (Bot.), the buttercup.
{Golden eagle} (Zo["o]l.), a large and powerful eagle
   ({Aquila Chrysa["e]tos}) inhabiting Europe, Asia, and
   North America. It is so called from the brownish yellow
   tips of the feathers on the head and neck. A dark variety
   is called the {royal eagle}; the young in the second year
   is the {ring-tailed eagle}.
{Golden fleece}.
   (a) (Mythol.) The fleece of gold fabled to have been taken
       from the ram that bore Phryxus through the air to
       Colchis, and in quest of which Jason undertook the
       Argonautic expedition.
   (b) (Her.) An order of knighthood instituted in 1429 by
       Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy; -- called also
       {Toison d'Or}.
{Golden grease}, a bribe; a fee. [Slang]
{Golden hair} (Bot.), a South African shrubby composite plant
   with golden yellow flowers, the {Chrysocoma Coma-aurea}.
{Golden Horde} (Hist.), a tribe of Mongolian Tartars who
   overran and settled in Southern Russia early in the 18th
   century.
{Golden Legend}, a hagiology (the ``Aurea Legenda'') written
   by James de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, in the 13th
   century, translated and printed by Caxton in 1483, and
   partially paraphrased by Longfellow in a poem thus
   entitled.
{Golden marcasite} tin. [Obs.]
{Golden mean}, the way of wisdom and safety between extremes;
   sufficiency without excess; moderation.
         Angels guard him in the golden mean.  --Pope.
{Golden mole} (Zo["o]l), one of several South African
   Insectivora of the family {Chrysochlorid[ae]}, resembling
   moles in form and habits. The fur is tinted with green,
   purple, and gold.
{Golden number} (Chronol.), a number showing the year of the
   lunar or Metonic cycle. It is reckoned from 1 to 19, and
   is so called from having formerly been written in the
   calendar in gold.
{Golden oriole}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Oriole}.
{Golden pheasant}. See under {Pheasant}.
{Golden pippin}, a kind of apple, of a bright yellow color.
{Golden plover} (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of
   plovers, of the genus {Charadrius}, esp. the European ({C.
   apricarius, or pluvialis}; -- called also {yellow,
   black-breasted, hill, & whistling, plover}. The common
   American species ({C. dominicus}) is also called
   {frostbird}, and {bullhead}.
{Golden robin}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Baltimore oriole}, in Vocab.
{Golden rose} (R. C. Ch.), a gold or gilded rose blessed by
   the pope on the fourth Sunday in Lent, and sent to some
   church or person in recognition of special services
   rendered to the Holy See.
{Golden rule}.
   (a) The rule of doing as we would have others do to us.
       Cf. --Luke vi. 31.
   (b) The rule of proportion, or rule of three.
{Golden samphire} (Bot.), a composite plant ({Inula
   crithmoides}), found on the seashore of Europe.
{Golden saxifrage} (Bot.), a low herb with yellow flowers
   ({Chrysosplenium oppositifolium}), blossoming in wet
   places in early spring.
{Golden seal} (Bot.), a perennial ranunculaceous herb
   ({Hydrastis Canadensis}), with a thick knotted rootstock
   and large rounded leaves.
{Golden sulphide, or sulphuret}, {of antimony} (Chem.), the
   pentasulphide of antimony, a golden or orange yellow
   powder.
{Golden warbler} (Zo["o]l.), a common American wood warbler
   ({Dendroica [ae]stiva}); -- called also {blue-eyed yellow
   warbler}, {garden warbler}, and {summer yellow bird}.
{Golden wasp} (Zo["o]l.), a bright-colored hymenopterous
   insect, of the family {Chrysidid[ae]}. The colors are
   golden, blue, and green.
{Golden wedding}. See under {Wedding}.