Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Carat"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Carat \Car"at\ (k[a^]r"[a^]t), n. [F. carat (cf. It. carato,
OPg. quirate, Pg. & Sp. quilate), Ar. q[imac]r[=a]t bean or
pea shell, a weight of four grains, a carat, fr. Gr.
kera`tion a little horn, the fruit of the carob tree, a
weight, a carat. See {Horn}.]
1. The weight by which precious stones and pearls are
weighed.
Note: The carat equals three and one fifth grains Troy, and
is divided into four grains, sometimes called carat
grains. Diamonds and other precious stones are
estimated by carats and fractions of carats, and
pearls, usually, by carat grains. --Tiffany.
2. A twenty-fourth part; -- a term used in estimating the
proportionate fineness of gold.
Note: A mass of metal is said to be so many carats fine,
according to the number of twenty-fourths of pure gold
which it contains; as, 22 carats fine (goldsmith's
standard) = 22 parts of gold, 1 of copper, and 1 of
silver.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
carat
n 1: a unit of weight for precious stones = 200 mg
2: the unit of measurement for the proportion of gold in an
alloy; 18-karat gold is 75% gold; 24-karat gold is pure
gold [syn: {Karat}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.