'aureus' originates from Latin, specifically the adjective 'aureus', where the root 'aurum' meant 'gold'.

'aureus' in Classical Latin referred to 'golden' and was later used (Late Antiquity) as the name of a Roman gold coin; the term has been carried into modern English in historical and scientific contexts (e.g., species names).

Initially, it meant 'golden' (adjective); over time it also came to denote the gold coin called the 'aureus', and in modern usage it appears both as a historical numismatic term and as a descriptive epithet in taxonomy.