The process of coating something with a thin layer of gold, or gold leaf itself used for decorative purposes.
From Old English 'gold' plus the suffix '-ing' indicating an action or process. It developed as a craft term for the specific technique of applying gold to surfaces.
Medieval monks used golding to illuminate manuscripts—they'd beat gold so thin (one-millionth of an inch!) that a single gram could cover 300 square feet. This ancient art is still used on fancy books and religious objects today.
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