'gold standard' originates from modern English as a compound of 'gold' and 'standard'. 'Gold' comes from Old English 'gold' (a Germanic word meaning the metal 'gold'), and 'standard' comes via Old French 'estandard' (originally meaning 'banner' or 'emblem', later 'measure' or 'criterion').

'gold standard' developed as a term in the 19th century to describe a monetary system in which currency was convertible to a fixed amount of gold; the phrase later expanded metaphorically to mean 'the best available example or benchmark.'

Initially it referred specifically to the monetary system linking currency to a fixed quantity of gold; over time it evolved into a wider metaphorical sense meaning 'the ideal or benchmark against which others are measured.'