carrot English · revision 988

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkæɹət/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkæɹət/, /ˈkɛɹət/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|carotte]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|la-lat|carōta]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|grc|καρωτόν|tr=karōtón|t=carrot]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) probably from ''kárā'' “head”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from the Proto-Indo-European root ''*ker-'' “horn, head”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline) perhaps for its horn-like shape.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The edible root of the carrot plant (1533);^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) the plant itself is recorded from 1538.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ancient carrot was white-rooted and used medicinally;^(Etymonline) a purple variety came to Europe through the Arabs, and the modern orange root was developed in the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th centuries.^(Etymonline) The colour name, at first of yellowish-red hair, is not recorded before the 1670s,^(Etymonline) and ''carrots'' was used humorously of red hair or a red-haired person (c. 1685).^(OED 1989) The figurative carrot, a reward or inducement, alludes to tempting a donkey forward with a dangling carrot.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1533 – the root.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1538 – the plant.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1670s – a colour, of red hair.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1685 – ''carrots'', red hair.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1862 – verb, to treat fur with mercuric nitrate.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[biennial]] plant of the [[parsley]] family, ''Daucus carota'', widely grown for its edible root.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The long, tapering, usually orange root of this plant, eaten as a vegetable.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A reward or advantage offered as an inducement, often contrasted with a stick.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(US)'' [[Queen Anne's lace]], the wild carrot.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[carotene]]

+ * [[carroty]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[parsnip]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}