18-karat gold
1
3.0
- noun
- /ˈeɪˈtiːn ˈkærət ɡoʊld/
- Specialized
:
oro de 18 quilates
- In this case, the bodywork of my Rolls Royce is 18-carat gold.
- 18-karat gold and diamond
Examples
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Blush-colored pearls with an 18-karat gold clasp.
Fiction book (1996) -
This stunning necklace is made of 18-karat gold and features intricate designs.
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That was an 18-karat gold pin that my mentor gave to me.
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An 18-karat gold piece is made up of at least 75 percent pure gold, which has been considered the best combination of price and quality.
Blog text (23) -
Well, you see, Cleopatra's first egg is covered in 18-karat gold.
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This is 18-karat gold.
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Or 18-karat gold
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An older child might have received a bracelet fashioned from 18-karat gold, and other children in the house would have wanted to stop and have a look.
Blog text (17) -
Is that really necessary? It is made with a blend of 28 types of cocoa and edible gold, served in an edible-gold-lined goblet with an 18-karat gold bracelet and 1 carat of diamonds in the bottom.
Blog text (3) -
She received a beautiful 18-karat gold ring as an engagement gift.
How Pure
Surface Forms
Morphology
18-karat + gold
The phrase '18-karat gold' literally denotes gold of 18 karats (i.e. a measure of purity), so its meaning is directly derivable from combining the numeral/measure '18-karat' with 'gold'. This measure+noun composition is a transparent, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent items would understand the MWE.
Etymology
18-Karat gold comes from an old system where a karat is one of 24 equal parts of pure gold; 18 of those parts are real gold and the rest are mixed metals. So 18-karat gold means '75 percent pure gold', which gives jewelry a warm color and more strength than pure gold.