Karat

MFA Acc. #: 2006.46

Description

Originally a unit of weight, karat is now used as a unit of purity or quality of gold. Pure gold is 24 karat or 1000 fine and a gold alloy that contains 75% gold is 18 karat or 750 fine. The term karat was used in medieval times as a measure of the proportion of gold in a German coin called a mark that weighed 24 carat.

See also stamp gold stamp.

Synonyms and Related Terms

k; carat (secondary spelling for gold purity); carat (Fr.); Karat (Deut.); karaat (Ned.); carate (Port.)

Additional Images

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  MFA Acc. #: 2006.47

Authority

• Random House, Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "Karat." Encyclopdia Britannica. 2 Sept. 2004 .