Golden Gate

Meanings

1. The strait that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean.
2. Ellipsis of Golden Gate Bridge.
3. The oldest of the current gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls, through which, according to Jewish tradition, the shekinah used to appear and will appear again when the Messiah comes.

Etymology

Calque of Latin Porta Aurea and/or Ancient Greek Χρῡσὴ Πύλη (Khrūsḕ Púlē) (as neo-Latin Chrysopylae). Coined by American explorer John C. Frémont, who explained, “To this Gate I gave the name of ‘Chrysopylae’, or ‘Golden Gate’; for the same reasons that the harbor of Byzantium was called Chrysoceras, or Golden Horn.”