Where does “carat” come from?

carat (Middle French) comes from Italian carato, from Arabic قِيرَاط, from Ancient Greek κεράτιον, from Ancient Greek κέρας, from Proto-Hellenic *kérats.

carat (Middle French): carat (measure of purity of gold)

Definitions

  1. carat (measure of purity of gold)

Ancestry of “carat”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Italiancaratocarat; share; first-person singular present...
2Arabicقِيرَاطcarat; husk
3Ancient Greekκεράτιονsmall horn; carat, 1⁄1728 of a pound; a Byzantine...
4Ancient Greekκέραςhorn; horn as a material, or anything made of...
5Proto-Hellenic*kérats—

Words derived from “carat”

Every word from Proto-Hellenic *kérats →Every word from Ancient Greek κέρας →Every word from Ancient Greek κεράτιον →