filón

vein (of ore)

noun fee-LOHN Rare

Origin: From French filon, from Italian filone ('large thread, vein'), from Latin filum ('thread').

Also means

goldmine (figurative)

Usage Note

Filón literally means a seam or vein of mineral ore in geology. Figuratively it is widely used to mean a rich source of profit or opportunity: ese negocio es un filón ('that business is a goldmine'). The written accent appears only in the singular; in the plural filones it is dropped because the penultimate stress no longer needs marking.

Examples

"Los mineros encontraron un filón de oro."

Natural Translation

The miners found a vein of gold.

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