carta

Forms

carta f (plural cartas)^[1]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Latin charta (“paper”), which is from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs, “papyrus leaf, roll”).^[2][3][4][1] Latin made the Greek masculine noun feminine.^[1] Beekes leaves the Greek word unexplained and thinks it probably came from Egypt, like papyrus itself.^[5]

The same Latin word is Portuguese carta, Catalan carta, Italian carta, French charte (“charter”) and Romanian carte (“letter, book”).^[6][7] The English words card and chart go back to it as well.^[1] Through Arabic it also gave alcartaz “paper cone”, a Mozarabic word.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) is the first text, with the king's letter that reaches Burgos con grand recabdo e fuertemientre sellada “with great caution and firmly sealed”.^[2][8] In the Cid it means both the parchment and what is written on it, a royal order or a document, and por carta is “in writing” as opposed to “by word of mouth”.^[9][10] Earlier records in the CDH, from 1064 on, are the word inside Latin charters (Facta carta …).^[8]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Spanish used carta for any written document: a deed, a charter, a royal provision, and a letter;^[11][12] Alfonso X's prose has cartas abiertas and the carta de creencia “letter of credence”.^[11][12] Nebrija gave it the sense “a sheet” (Latin charta, pagina), and Covarrubias in 1611 listed many kinds, starting with the carta de pago “receipt”.^[13][14] The Autoridades defined it as a sealed letter sent to someone, and still recorded the old sense “public deed”.^[15] The Academy's 1884 dictionary adds the playing card, a written constitution and the map, and marks “paper for writing” as obsolete.^[16] The sense “restaurant menu” is among the DLE's current ones.^[4]

Timeline

• 1064 – the earliest CDH hit, in the Latin formula Facta carta of the Fuero de Jaca (in a copy of 1283).^[8]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses carta for a sealed royal letter.^[2][8]
• 1250–1284 – Alfonso X's prose has carta abierta and carta de creencia.^[11]
• 1494 – the first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[17]
• 1516 – a carta de marear “sea chart” is priced in Puerto Rico.^[17]
• 1611 – Covarrubias lists the many kinds of carta.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy adds the senses “playing card”, “constitution” and “map”.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. A letter: a written message, usually sealed, sent from one person to another: Le escribió una carta a su hermana.^[4][1]
2. A dispatch or order issued by the higher courts.^[4]
3. A playing card.^[4][1]
4. A constitution or charter (carta magna).^[4][16]
5. In a restaurant, the menu of dishes and drinks.^[4][1]
6. A map or chart.^[4][1]
7. (obsolete) Writing paper; a written sheet of paper or parchment.^[4]

Word family

• cartear
• cartero
• cartera
• cartilla
• descartar
• encartar
• abrecartas

Related words

• cartel
• cartografía
• cartón
• cartucho
• cartulario
• pancarta
• Latin charta
• English card

Usage notes

Set phrases include a la carta “à la carte”, carta blanca “a free hand”, carta de naturaleza “naturalisation papers; acceptance” and jugar a cartas vistas “to act openly”.^[1][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 898
3. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. carta
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. carta
5. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. charta
7. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 1609
8. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. carta
9. ^ Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. s.v. carta
10. ^ Boggs, R. S.; Kasten, Lloyd; Keniston, Hayward; Richardson, H. B. (1946), Tentative Dictionary of Medieval Spanish, 2 vols., Chapel Hill, N.C., p. 102
11. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. carta
12. ^ a b Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 638
13. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 312
14. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 449
15. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 200
16. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 217
17. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. carta