Etymology

carrot

car·rot
C3A1R1R1O1T1

Today it means: A vegetable with a nutritious, juicy, sweet root that is often orange in colour, Daucus carota, family Apiaceae, especially the subspecies sativus. Full definition →

Middle English karette ← Middle French carotte ← Latin carōta
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekκαρώ (karṓ)der.?
  2. Ancient Greekκαρωτόν (karōtón)
  3. Latincarōta
  4. Middle Frenchcarotte
  5. Middle Englishkarette
  6. English todaycarrot

Inherited 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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.