carat
pronunciation
How to pronounce carat in British English:
UK [ˈkærət]
How to pronounce carat in American English:
US [ˈkærət]
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- Noun:
- a unit of weight for precious stones = 200 mg
- the unit of measurement for the proportion of gold in an alloy; 18-karat gold is 75% gold; 24-karat gold is pure gold
Word Origin
- carat
- carat: [16] The carat gets its name from the use of carob beans as standard weights for measuring the heaviness of small quantities. The Greek name for the elongated seed pod of the carob tree was kerátion, a derivative of kéras ‘horn’ (related to English horn). This passed into Arabic as qīrāt, where it became formalized in a system of weights and measures as ‘four grains’. It passed into English via Italian carato and French carat.=> horn
- carat (n.)
- also karat, mid-15c., from Middle French carat "measure of the fineness of gold" (14c.), from Italian carato or Medieval Latin carratus, both from Arabic qirat "fruit of the carob tree," also "weight of 4 grains," from Greek keration "carob seed," also the name of a small weight of measure (one-third obol), literally "little horn" diminutive of keras "horn" (see kerato-). Carob beans were a standard for weighing small quantities. As a measure of diamond weight, from 1570s in English. The Greek measure was the equivalent of the Roman siliqua, which was one-twentyfourth of a golden solidus of Constantine; hence karat took on a sense of "a proportion of one twentyfourth" and became a measure of gold purity (1550s). Eighteen carat gold is eighteen parts gold, six parts alloy. It is unlikely that the classical carat ever was a measure of weight for gold.
Example
- 1. Now you can add to your ear 's bling quotient with the 18 carat gold , diamond-encrusted earphones !
- 2. An anonymous bidder paid the record sum for the 14.23 carat diamond which was up for auction at christie 's in hong kong .
- 3. Bret allen langford , 39 , allegedly asked the owner of a jewelry store to show him a carat colorless diamond in april 2005 .
- 4. A tea cup and saucer will set you back 49 - but then again they are hand gilded in 22 carat gold .
- 5. Each earphone , made by top jeweller casa gi based in belgium , is encrusted with 59 of the highest quality diamonds that have been individually set in 18 carat gold .