We trust you know the correct spelling of “carrot” for the orange root vegetable. But what about carat, karat and caret? Those get a bit more confusing — for most of us, they show up in content less frequently.
Carat and karat both have applications in the jewelry world. Carat refers to the weight of a gemstone like a diamond, while karat indicates the proportion of gold in an alloy — think 24K gold. And because the English language is like this, carat can be used in reference to gold as well. A few examples:
- He proposed with a two-carat diamond.
- The thief didn’t realize the four-carat stone wasn’t worth much.
- Her necklace was 24-karat gold.
Lastly, a caret is a proofreader’s mark for inserting: ^
—SC