ETYM French carat (cf. Italian carato, OPg. quirate, Portu. and Spanish quilate), Arabic qîrât bean or pea shell, a weight of four grains, a carat, from Greek keration a little horn, the fruit of the carob tree, a weight, a carat. Related to Horn.
(Homonym: caret, carrot, karat).
A unit of weight for precious stones equaling 200 mg.
Unit for measuring the mass of precious stones, derived from the Arabic word quirrat, meaning “seed”. Originally, 1 carat was the weight of a carob seed; it is now taken as 0.2 g/0.00705 oz, and is part of the troy system of weights. Also, an alternative spelling of karat.