Familiar words. Unexpected answers.

Carry away the meat

Earlier Italian carnelevare refers to removing meat. Music and masks evoke celebration, but they do not explain the name.

Forty in the name; duration varies

The early Ragusa rule was thirty days. Later forty-day periods connect with the name. A modern duration depends on the particular situation.

Thread became a guiding metaphor

Clue was a spelling variant of clew. The guiding thread in myth and folklore helps explain the figurative development.

Artificial living workers; labour

The play describes manufactured living workers. Robot connects to Czech robota, compulsory labour; later metal-machine images should not replace the original premise.

The fruit

The English fruit sense precedes the colour sense. People could see the colour before using this name for it.

A surname; naming motives debated

Dictionaries support the surname connection but give different explanations for the name. The history of the art and the naming of it are separate questions.