Word of the Day: Carat/Caret/Carrot/Karat
carat
noun
1. a measurement of weight applied to precious stones equal to 200 milligrams
The only carrots that interest me are the number of carats in a diamond.
Mae West, 1892 – 1980
2. a 1/24 part of pure gold in an alloy used as a measure of fineness for gold, 24 karat gold is pure gold (variant spelling of karat)
The award of a pure gold medal for poetry would flatter the recipient unduly; no poem ever attains such a carat purity.
Gerald Brenan, 1894 – 1987
caret
car-et / kăr-ət or kăr′ĭt
noun
1. a mark (^) used to indicate where something is to be inserted in a document or other written material
A caret (^) indicates an addition, and a line through the text indicates a deletion or a replacement.
from “Proofreading Marks: What Do They Mean”, www.scribendi.com
carrot
car-rot / kăr-ət
noun
1. a plant, Daucuscarota, with fine leaves and a root typically of orange color, which is a member of the parsley family
The Carrot, in its cultivated state, is a half-hardy biennial.
from “The Field and Garden Vegetables of America” by Fearing Burr, 1815 – 1897
2. the commonly long, tapering, orange root of the carrot plant which is eaten as a vegetable
Some prefer carrots while others like cabbage.
Chinese Proverb
3. a reward offered for a desired behavior or action; an incentive
Pleasure is the carrot dangled to lead the ass to market; or the precipice.
Robinson Jeffers, 1887 – 1962
karat
kar-at / kăr-ət
noun
1. a 1/24 part of pure gold in an alloy used as a measure of fineness
It is, indeed, only six karats fine.
from “Olympian Nights” by John Kendrick Bangs, 1862 – 1922
