karat

American  

[kar-uht] / ˈkær ət /

Or carat

noun

• karats
  plural

1. a unit for measuring the fineness of gold, pure gold being 24 karats fine. k., kt.

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karat British  

/ ˈkærət /

noun

1. Also spelt (in Britain and certain other countries): carat.  a measure of the proportion of gold in an alloy, expressed as the number of parts of gold in 24 parts of the alloy

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• karats
  plural

Etymology

Origin of karat

First recorded in 1550–60; spelling variant of carat

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

karat karats

Four bronze horse statues that stand near Memorial Bridge are set to be coated with 23.75 karat gold leaf.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026

A 16 cm Cartier Love bracelet costs $8,655 including sales tax, and contains around 31 grams of 18 karat gold.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025

The toilet is made of 18 karat gold, meaning the metal is 75% gold and 25% alloy.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 1, 2025

It contains just under 400 diamonds, rubies and sapphires and is set onto yellow gold, with a total karat weight of approximately 6 carats.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2024

Pippin's not so nicely spoken as you, my pet, but his heart's twenty-four karat.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

Between its opening in 1983 and closure in 2020, when mining the gems there was no longer economically viable, Argyle produced more than 865 million karats of rough diamonds.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 19, 2023

We each have a nameplate necklace in warm, yellow 18 karats we wear to school, to bed, in the shower; the prettiest of dog tags, they mark us in Arabic script.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2022

The other he plans to have tested to see if the gold left on it is actually 24 karats.

From Fox News ● Jan. 11, 2020

Mickelson wins the $9 million purse and a championship belt crafted with 18-karat gold and two karats worth of diamonds.

From Washington Times ● Nov. 14, 2019

"And what would be the value of the largest ones?" asked Betty, for there were one or two stones that Will was sure were three or four karats in size.

From The Outdoor Girls at Ocean View Or, The Box That Was Found in the Sand by Laura Lee Hope