carat

carat
(ct or c)
   1. a unit of mass used for diamonds and other precious stones. Originally spelled karat, the word comes from the Greek keration, a carob bean; carob beans were used as standards of weight and length in ancient Greece in much the same way barleycorns were used in old England. Traditionally the carat was equal to 4 grains. The definition of the grain differed from one country to another, but typically it was about 50 milligrams and thus the carat was about 200 milligrams. In the U. S. and Britian, the diamond carat was formerly defined by law to be 3.2 troy grains, which is about 207 milligrams. Jewelers everywhere now use a metric carat defined in 1907 to be exactly 200 milligrams.
   2. in Britain, the spelling "carat" is also used for the unit of gold purity known in America as the karat.

Dictionary of units of measurement. 2015.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • carat — [ kara ] n. m. • 1355; it. carato, ar. qîrât « petit poids »; gr. keration « tiers d obole » 1 ♦ Chaque vingt quatrième d or fin contenu dans une quantité d or. Or à dix huit carats. 2 ♦ Métrol. Unité de mesure de masse valant 0,2 gramme,… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Carat — or karat may refer to:In the gem business: * Carat (mass), a unit of mass for gemstones, equal to 0.2 gram * Carat (purity) or karat, a unit of purity for goldIn entertainment: * Carat (board game), an abstract tile based German style board game… …   Wikipedia

  • carat — CARÁT, carate, s.n. 1. Indice pentru conţinutul relativ în aur al aliajelor acestuia, egal cu a 24 a parte din masa totală. 2. Unitate de măsură a greutăţii pietrelor preţioase, egală cu 0,2 grame. [var.: carátă s.f.] – Din fr. carat. Trimis de… …   Dicționar Român

  • 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… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • carat — car‧at [ˈkærət] noun [countable] 1. also karat a measurement used to show how pure gold is: • a 22 carat gold chain 2. a measurement equal to 200 Milligrams on the scale of measurement for the weight of jewels …   Financial and business terms

  • Carat UK — is a leading independent British media agency based in Covent Garden, London. It currently holds the Media Week (a leading UK industry publication) award for Agency of the Year and it the only agency to retain this title for two years in a row.… …   Wikipedia

  • carat — CARAT. s. m. Certain titre, certain degré de bonté et de perfection dans l or. Il ne se dit point des autres métaux. De l or à vingt carats, au vingt et unième carat. Il n y a point dans le commerce, d or à vingt quatre carats. f♛/b] On dit… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française 1798

  • cărat — CĂRÁT s.n. 1. Acţiunea de a (se) căra; transport de materiale (în cantitate mare). 2. Timpul când se cară fânul sau recolta. – v. căra. Trimis de valeriu, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  CĂRÁT s. cărare, ducere, dus, purtare, transport, transportare …   Dicționar Român

  • carat — (n.) mid 15c., from M.Fr. carat measure of the fineness of gold (14c.), from It. carato, from Arabic qirat pod, husk, weight of 4 grains, from Gk. keration carob seed, lit. little horn dim. of keras horn (see KERATO (Cf. kerato )). Carob beans… …   Etymology dictionary

  • carat — CARAT. s. m. Certain degré de bonté & de perfection de l or. Il ne se dit point des autres metaux. De l or à vingt carats, au vingt & uniéme carat. il n y a point d or à vingt quatre carats. On dit prov. & fig. qu Un homme est sot, est… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • carat — carat, caret Carat (AmE karat) is a measure of the purity of gold; caret is a mark (λ) for showing an insertion in printing or writing …   Modern English usage

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”