El Dorado

El Dorado

a fabled city in South America, rich in treasure and sought by Spanish explorers in the 16th century

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

El Dorado

mythical land of gold treasures, object of Spanish expeditions. [Am. Hist.: Jameson, 159]

See: Quest

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El Dorado

legendary land of gold in South America. [Span. Myth.: NCE, 846]

See: Treasure

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El Dorado

legendary place of fabulous wealth. [Am. Hist.: Espy, 335]

See: Utopia

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

El Dorado

 

a country rich in gold and jewels that was sought by the Spanish conquistadores in the 16th and 17th centuries in South America, mainly in the basin of the Orinoco and Amazon rivers.

According to the legend that had reached the conquistadores, the ruler of El Dorado sprinkled himself with gold dust every morning and washed it off in the waters of a sacred lake. The legend and the name of the country stem from the custom that existed among the Chibcha (Muisca) of consecrating their rulers in Lake Guatavita (Colombia).

In a figurative sense, “El Dorado” means a land of fabulous wealth.

REFERENCE

Sozina, S. A. Na gorizonte—El’dorado! Moscow, 1972.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.