karat
22
6.0
- noun
- /ˈkærət/
- Specialized
- Mary, we know you have a four-and-a-half-karat ring, all right?
- karat gold
- 24-karat
- 18-karat
Examples
-
If you must have gold, save money by selecting the appropriate karat.
Blog text (23) -
Your 14 karat gold ring from the King of Cambodia.
-
We took a sample to a local jeweler, and sure enough, he said it was fourteen-karat.
Fiction book (1996) -
She picked gold earrings with a swirly kind of design, and for the neckpiece, a 24-karat gold brooch.
Fiction book (2000) -
The jewelry store sells beautiful rings made of 18-karat gold.
-
He bought a necklace that is crafted from pure 24-karat gold.
-
When shopping for gold, it's important to check the karat to ensure its purity.
Synonyms
4
5.1
A unit that shows how much pure gold is in a metal, with 24 meaning pure gold
1
8.6
A measure of how much pure gold is in a piece of metal, with 24 meaning pure gold
Compounds
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word karat comes from an old word for the carob seed, a tiny seed that people used as a small weight, and it is the same root as the word carat for gems. Gold purity was measured in 24 of these 'parts', so 24-karat means all 24 parts are gold, which is why karat now tells how 'pure' gold is.