carrot

US /ˈkæɹ.ət/ UK /ˈkæɹ.ət/ See IPA manual

Freq #8472

Meanings

1

noun
A long, pointed, orange vegetable that grows underground.

She chopped some carrots for the soup.
2

noun
Something offered as a reward to persuade someone to do something.

The company used a bonus as a carrot to boost sales.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms carrots

Derived forms carotanecarotenecarrot-and-stickcarrot-nosedcarrot-topcarrot-toppedcarrotercarrotishcarrotlesscarrotlikecarrotwoodcarroty

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

carrot juice
a drink made by extracting liquid from carrots

Noun + noun

Idioms (1)

See all

carrot and stick
a strategy that uses both incentives and penalties to steer behavior

Etymology

From Middle English karette and Middle French carotte, both from Latin carōta, from Ancient Greek καρωτόν (karōtón). Doublet of carotte and related to caraway. Displaced native Middle English more, from Old English more, moru (“edible root, parsnip, carrot”), related to German Möhre (“carrot”). * Noun sense of "motivational tool" refers to carrot and stick. * Verb sense in felt manufacture refers to the orange colour of drying furs.

karette Middle English carotte Middle French carōta Latin καρωτόν Ancient Greek

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

External links

# carrot

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkæɹ.ət/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkæɹ.ət/
**Frequency rank:** 8472

## Meanings
1. A long, pointed, orange vegetable that grows underground.
2. Something offered as a reward to persuade someone to do something.

## Examples
- She chopped some carrots for the soup.
- The company used a bonus as a carrot to boost sales.

## Derived Forms
- carotane
- carotene
- carrot-and-stick
- carrot-nosed
- carrot-top
- carrot-topped
- carroter
- carrotish
- carrotless
- carrotlike
- carrotwood
- carroty

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: karette
- Root: carotte
- Root: carōta
- Root: καρωτόν

## Etymology
From Middle English karette and Middle French carotte, both from Latin carōta, from Ancient Greek καρωτόν (karōtón). Doublet of carotte and related to caraway. Displaced native Middle English more, from Old English more, moru (“edible root, parsnip, carrot”), related to German Möhre (“carrot”). * Noun sense of "motivational tool" refers to carrot and stick. * Verb sense in felt manufacture refers to the orange colour of drying furs.

## AI Etymology
carrot is a noun. It is from Middle English karette and Middle French carotte, both from Latin carōta, from Ancient Greek καρωτόν (karōtón). Doublet of carotte and related to caraway. Displaced native Middle English more, from Old English more, moru (“edible root, parsnip, carrot”), related to German Möhre (“carrot”). Noun sense of "motivational tool" refers to carrot and stick. Verb sense in felt manufacture refers to the orange colour of drying furs. Historical forms in the chain include karette (Middle English), carotte (Middle French), carōta (Latin), and καρωτόν (Ancient Greek). Current senses include a long, pointed, orange vegetable that grows underground and something offered as a reward to persuade someone to do something. Derived forms include carotane, carotene, carrot-and-stick, carrot-nosed, and carrot-top.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

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