Etymology 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.
1
A vegetable with a nutritious, juicy, sweet root that is often orange in colour, Daucus carota, family Apiaceae, especially the subspecies sativus.
In general, beets, carrots, and turnips are all of aphrodisiac value in erotic dietary.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 42:
2
A shade of orange similar to the flesh of most carrots (also called carrot orange).
3
Figuratively Any motivational tool; an incentive to do something.
Essentially, lawmakers replaced the sticks with carrots.2022 August 7, Coral Davenport, Lisa Friedman, “Five Decades in the Making: Why It Took Congress So Long to Act on Climate”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
In 2022, when the Biden administration finally succeeded in passing a major climate bill, it consisted almost entirely of carrots—tax credits and subsidies for green energy.2023 August 7, Paul Krugman, “Climate Is Now a Culture War Issue”, in The New York Times:
Etymology 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.
1
To treat (an animal pelt) with a solution of mercuric nitrate as part of felt manufacture.