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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.


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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of karat

First recorded in 1550–60; spelling variant of carat

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

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

Yeesookyung collects ceramic shards of work discarded by master craftsmen due to minor flaws and reassembles these fragments into bubbling sculptures held together with 24 karat gold.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 13, 2026

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

From MarketWatch Nov. 1, 2025

Featuring an array of necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings in 18 karat yellow gold and black titanium with diamonds, the collection is feels personal to Pharrell.

From Los Angeles Times May 30, 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

The Hall of Fame Ring of Excellence is set in 14-karat gold with a total diamond weight of 1¾ karats.

From Washington Times Sep. 7, 2018

The Koh-i-noor, by the way, which was found in India only weighs 186 karats.

From An African Adventure by Marcosson, Isaac Frederick

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