aureus

[awr-ee-uhs]

au·re·us

[awr-ee-uhs]
noun, plural au·re·i [awr-ee-ahy] .
a gold coin and monetary unit of ancient Rome, from Caesar to Constantine I.

Origin:
1600–10; < Latin: literally, golden
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Aureus is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
Collins
World English Dictionary
aureus (ˈɔːrɪəs)
 
n , pl aurei
a gold coin of the Roman Empire
 
[Latin: golden; see aureate]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

aureus

basic gold monetary unit of ancient Rome and the Roman world. It was first named nummus aureus ("gold money"), or denarius aureus, and was equal to 25 silver denarii; a denarius equaled 10 bronze asses. (In 89 BC, the sestertius, equal to one-quarter of a denarius, replaced the bronze ass as a unit of account.) In Constantine's reform of AD 312, the aureus was replaced by the solidus as the basic monetary unit

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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