carat
Plural: carats
Noun
- A unit of weight for precious stones, equal to 200 milligrams.
- 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
- A metric unit of mass equal to exactly 200 mg, chiefly used for measuring precious stones and pearls.
- Any of several small units of mass used for measuring precious stones and pearls, equivalent to 189–212 mg.
- A 24-point scale used to measure the purity of gold.
Examples
- 18-carat gold is 75% gold by mass. 24-carat gold is pure.
- Every tile was a carat of opportunity, waiting to be polished into a high-scoring word.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle French carat, from Italian carato, from Arabic قِيرَاط (qīrāṭ, “carat, similarly small units such as inches”), from Ancient Greek κεράτιον (kerátion, “hornlet, carob seed”), from κέρας (kéras, “horn”) + -ιον (-ion, diminutive suffix). Doublet of quilate.
Scrabble Score: 7
carat: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordcarat: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
carat: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 8
carat: valid Words With Friends Word