auriferous aw-RIH-fuh-russ (adjective)

: containing gold

Students in chemistry class learn that the chemical symbol for gold is Au. That symbol is based on aurum, the Latin word for the element. Now's a golden opportunity to look at a few words in English that come from aurum. In the 18th century, English speakers appended the -ous ending to aurifer, the Latin adjective meaning containing gold or producing gold, to produce auriferous. (The -fer is from ferre, a Latin verb meaning to produce or to bear.) Not surprisingly, auriferous is a term that often shows up in geological contexts. Some other descendants of aurum include aureate (of a golden color or marked by grandiloquent style), auric (of, relating to, or derived from gold), and or (the heraldic color gold or yellow).

rodomontade rah-duh-mun-TAYD or rah-duh-mun-TAHD (noun)

1 : a bragging speech

2 : vain boasting or bluster : rant

Rodomontade originated in Italian poetry. Rodomont was a fierce and boastful king in the circa 1485 epic _Orlando Innamorato_ by Count Matteo M. Boiardo -- and later in the sequel _Orlando Furioso_, written by poet Lodovico Ariosto in 1516. In the late 16th century, English speakers began to use rodomont as a noun meaning braggart. Soon afterwards, rodomontade entered the language as a noun (meaning empty bluster or bragging speech) and later as an adjective (meaning boastful, ranting). The noun rodomont is no longer used in English, but rodomontade is still with us.