caret

C3A1R1E1T1
UK/ˈkæɹ.ɪt/UK/ˈkæɹ.ət/US/ˈkɛɹ.ɪt/US/ˈkɛɹ.ət/

noun

A mark ⟨ ‸ ⟩ used by writers and proofreaders to indicate that something is to be inserted at that point.

Less commonScrabble 7

Meanings

caret1

nouncaret (plural carets)

plural carets

  1. A mark ⟨ ‸ ⟩ used by writers and proofreaders to indicate that something is to be inserted at that point.
  2. An exponentiation symbol or operator ⟨^⟩.
  3. user interfaceAn indicator, often a blinking line or bar and usually called a cursor, indicating where the next insertion or other edit will take place.
  4. nonstandardA circumflex ⟨ ˆ ⟩.
  5. nonstandardA háček ⟨ ˇ ⟩.

    […] the more conventional semivocalic j and the caret (ˇ) respectively.

    1944, Maro Beath Jones, “Inclusive Uniform Alphabet for Russian, Bulgarian, Serb-Croatian, Czech, Polish”, in Claremont Slavic Series, Claremont College, page 10
    2 more examples

    The caret (ˇ), háček, is used over the following consonants: c, d, n, t, r, s, and z to indicate the soft sound. The caret (ˇ) is also used over the vowel e (See Pronunciation II, b, p, v).

    1948, Bohumil Emil Mikula, Progressive Czech (Bohemian) (Chicago: Czechoslovak National Council of America), 6

    In contemporary Czech, the “hook” or caret is no longer in use for lower-case t and d when the latter are palatal; instead, an apostrophe is used (t’, d’) This development is clearly connected with the practical difficulty encountered in printing a caret over letter stems that are too thin.

    1991, Michael Shapiro, The Sense of Change: Language as History, Indiana University Press, →ISBN, page 58, →ISBN

caret2

nouncaret (plural carets)

plural carets

  1. archaicA kind of turtle, the hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata).

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

caret · noun

  1. Latincaret“it lacks”
  2. Englishcaret

From the Latin caret (“it lacks”), the third-person singular present active indicative form of careō (“to lack”).

Full word history & related roots →

caret · noun

  1. Frenchcaret
  2. Frenchcaret
  3. Englishcaret

Borrowed from French caret.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Czech stříška, vynechávka v rukopise
  • stříškasymbol
  • vynechávka v rukopisesymbol
Esperanto ĉapelo
  • ĉapelosymbol
Finnish sirkumfleksi
  • sirkumfleksisymbol
French circonflexe
  • circonflexesymbol
German Einschaltungszeichen, Zirkumflex
  • Einschaltungszeichensymbol
  • Zirkumflexsymbol
  • Dachsymbol
  • Einfügezeichensymbol
  • Exponent-Operatorsymbol
Hungarian hiányjel, beszúrásjel
  • hiányjelsymbol
  • beszúrásjelsymbol
  • betoldásjelsymbol
  • beszúrási jelsymbol
  • háztetősymbol
  • kalapsymbol
  • hatványjelsymbol
Māori hiwi, tohu hiwi
  • hiwisymbol
  • tohu hiwisymbol
Portuguese acento circunflexo
  • acento circunflexosymbol
Spanish signo de intercalación
  • signo de intercalaciónsymbol
Turkish düzeltme imi
  • düzeltme imisymbol

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with caret

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

caratkaratcarrot (weak vowel merger)caratkaratcarrot (weak vowel merger)

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

caret. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caret

MLA

“caret.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caret. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “caret,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/caret.

Source: caret on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.