‖ El Dorado
(ˌɛldɒrˈɑːdəʊ)
[Sp. el the, dorado gilded, pa. pple. of dorar to gild.]
The name of a fictitious country (according to others a city) abounding in gold, believed by the Spaniards and by Sir W. Raleigh to exist upon the Amazon within the jurisdiction of the governor of Guiana.
| 1596 Raleigh (title) Discoverie of Guiana, with a relation of the Great and Golden Citie of Manoa (which the Spaniards call El Dorado). 1622–62 Heylin Cosmogr. iv. (1682) 142 Letting pass these dreams of an El Dorado, let us descend. etc. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 411 Unspoil'd Guiana, whose great Citie Geryon's Sons Call El Dorado. |
b. fig.
| 1827 F. Cooper Prairie I. i. 15 A band of emigrants seeking for the Eldorado of their desires. c 1860 Wraxall tr. R. Houdin i. 2 How often, in my infantile dreams, did a benevolent fairy open before me the door of a mysterious El Dorado. |