golden rule

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

golden rule (plural golden rules)

1. (idiomatic) A fundamental rule or principle.
   • 1859, Charles Darwin, chapter 10, in On the Origin of Species:

     It is all-important to remember that naturalists have no golden rule by which to distinguish species and varieties.

2. (ethics) The principle that one should treat other people in the manner in which one would want to be treated by them.
   • 1818, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 2, in Rob Roy:

     "Mr. Francis seems to understand the fundamental principle of all moral accounting, the great ethic rule of three. Let A do to B, as he would have B do to him; the product will give the rule of conduct required." My father smiled at this reduction of the golden rule to arithmetical form.

Translations

idiomatic

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 黃金律 (zh), 黄金律 (zh) (huángjīnlǜ)

• Danish: gylden regel c
• French: règle d'or (fr) f
• German: goldene Regel f

• Italian: regola d'oro f
• Japanese: 黄金律 (おうごんりつ, ōgonritsu)
• Russian: золото́е пра́вило n (zolotóje právilo)
• Spanish: regla de oro (es)
• Tagalog: ginintuang tuntunin

ethics

• Danish: gylden regel c
• French: règle d'or (fr) f
• German: goldene Regel f

• Russian: золото́е пра́вило n (zolotóje právilo)
• Tagalog: ginintuang tuntunin

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} gyllene regeln

• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} nguyên tắc vàng

See also

• love thy neighbor as thyself
• silver rule