karat

or car·at

[ kar-uht ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a unit for measuring the fineness of gold, pure gold being 24 karats fine. : k., kt.

karat

/ ˈkærət /

noun

a measure of the proportion of gold in an alloy, expressed as the number of parts of gold in 24 parts of the alloy Also spelt (in Britain and certain other countries)carat

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Word History and Origins

Origin of karat¹

First recorded in 1550–60; spelling variant of carat

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Word History and Origins

Origin of karat¹

C16: from Old French, from Medieval Latin carratus, from Arabic qīrāt weight of four grains, carat, from Greek keration a little horn, from keras horn

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