carat

noun car·at

Variant spelling of karat

:a unit of fineness for gold equal to ¹/₂₄ part of pure gold in an alloy

Recent Examples of carat from the Web

Modern engagement rings with a diamond of 1-carat or more are supposed to come with a certificate from a gem lab outlining the 4Cs: color, cut, clarity and carat weight.

— marion fasel, Harper's BAZAAR, "Everything You Need To Know About Buying a Vintage Engagement Ring," 11 Aug. 2017
And the exterior styling is as subtle as four-carat diamond cufflinks.

— mark maynard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "2017 Bentley Mulsanne: A battle hymn of tradition and stoic provenance," 11 Aug. 2017
The stuff that gives us a dreamy escape into a fantasy world of princes, princesses, ball gowns, and million-carat crowns, right?

— elise taylor, Vogue, "Prince Henrik of Denmark Doubles Down on Pettiness, Gives Queen Wife an Ultimatum," 9 Aug. 2017
Last year, Las Vegas resident Qui Nguyen bested the competition to take home more than $8 million and the bracelet made from 427 grams of white and yellow gold and more than 2,000 diamonds and rubies totaling more than 44 carats.

— Washington Post, "Final table set for World Series of Poker Main Event," 18 July 2017
The lower grip has 15 small diamonds around a three-carat ruby.

— rick montgomery, kansascity, "Swords worth nearly $1 million stolen from Truman Library in 1978 remain missing," 16 July 2017
This week, the same piece - which turned out to be a 26.29 carat diamond ring - sold at Sotheby's auction house for $847,667.

— carol robinson, AL.com, "16 dogs killed in overnight Birmingham house fire; 4 adults and 4 more dogs escaped unharmed," 9 June 2017
Anyone who doesn't shy away from the spotlight will enjoy wearing this 5.6 carat stone ($61,820, macrow.com).

— lauren smith, House Beautiful, "Padparadscha Sapphires Are the Next Big Trend for Engagement Rings," 31 May 2017
Middleton has been wearing her engagement ring, a 3.5 carat diamond from jeweler Robinson Pelham, since James Matthews proposed to her in summer of last year.

— rosemary donahue, Allure, "Pippa Middleton's Wedding Band Is Surprisingly Basic," 21 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'carat.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Other Weights and Measures Terms

avoirdupois weight, calorie, denier, kip, pace, twain

carat

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noun car·at \ ˈker-ət , ˈka-rət \

Definition of carat

:a unit of weight for precious stones equal to 200 milligrams

See carat defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of carat from the Web

Modern engagement rings with a diamond of 1-carat or more are supposed to come with a certificate from a gem lab outlining the 4Cs: color, cut, clarity and carat weight.

— marion fasel, Harper's BAZAAR, "Everything You Need To Know About Buying a Vintage Engagement Ring," 11 Aug. 2017
And the exterior styling is as subtle as four-carat diamond cufflinks.

— mark maynard, sandiegouniontribune.com, "2017 Bentley Mulsanne: A battle hymn of tradition and stoic provenance," 11 Aug. 2017
The stuff that gives us a dreamy escape into a fantasy world of princes, princesses, ball gowns, and million-carat crowns, right?

— elise taylor, Vogue, "Prince Henrik of Denmark Doubles Down on Pettiness, Gives Queen Wife an Ultimatum," 9 Aug. 2017
Last year, Las Vegas resident Qui Nguyen bested the competition to take home more than $8 million and the bracelet made from 427 grams of white and yellow gold and more than 2,000 diamonds and rubies totaling more than 44 carats.

— Washington Post, "Final table set for World Series of Poker Main Event," 18 July 2017
The lower grip has 15 small diamonds around a three-carat ruby.

— rick montgomery, kansascity, "Swords worth nearly $1 million stolen from Truman Library in 1978 remain missing," 16 July 2017
This week, the same piece - which turned out to be a 26.29 carat diamond ring - sold at Sotheby's auction house for $847,667.

— carol robinson, AL.com, "16 dogs killed in overnight Birmingham house fire; 4 adults and 4 more dogs escaped unharmed," 9 June 2017
Anyone who doesn't shy away from the spotlight will enjoy wearing this 5.6 carat stone ($61,820, macrow.com).

— lauren smith, House Beautiful, "Padparadscha Sapphires Are the Next Big Trend for Engagement Rings," 31 May 2017
Middleton has been wearing her engagement ring, a 3.5 carat diamond from jeweler Robinson Pelham, since James Matthews proposed to her in summer of last year.

— rosemary donahue, Allure, "Pippa Middleton's Wedding Band Is Surprisingly Basic," 21 May 2017

Origin and Etymology of carat

Middle English carrat measure of fineness in gold, from Medieval French carat measure of fineness in gold or of weight in gems, from Italian carato, from Arabic qīrāṭ bean pod, a small weight, from Greek keration carob bean, a small weight, from diminutive of kerat-, keras horn — more at horn

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1555

See Words from the same year