AU

Multiple Entries:
  AU    Au    gold  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
AU/eɪˈjuː/

▶abbreviation

• 1 African Union.

• 2 ångström unit(s).

• 3 (also a.u.) astronomical unit(s).

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
Au

▶symbol the chemical element gold.

– origin from L. aurum.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
gold/ɡəʊld/

▶noun

• 1 a yellow precious metal, the chemical element of atomic number 79, used in jewellery and decoration and as a monetary medium. (Symbol: Au)

• 2 coins or articles made of gold.

  ■ money in large sums; wealth.

• 3 a deep lustrous yellow or yellow-brown colour.

• 4 the bullseye of an archery target.

– phrases
pot (or crock) of gold a large but distant or imaginary reward. [with allusion to the story of a crock of gold supposedly to be found at the end of a rainbow.]

– origin OE, of Gmc origin.