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carte

Etymology and origin of the French word carte

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1393, Ménagier de Paris
Borrowed from
Latin charta
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (χάρτης)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Ancient Greek χάρτης
Latin charta
English cartel
French carte

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kaʁt/[1]

Forms

carte f (plural cartes)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin charta (“sheet of papyrus, paper; written document”), itself from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs, “roll of papyrus”).[2][3][4][5][1][6] The Greek word is of unknown origin; an Egyptian source has often been suggested because of where papyrus came from, but without linguistic support.[3] The same Latin word gave charte by another route.[3][7] Littré mentions an alternative based on Medieval Latin quarta, a sheet folded in four, but the standard derivation is from “charta”.[8][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Ménagier de Paris (1393): les autres jouans aux cartes, playing cards.[2][8][4]

Semantic evolution

The game produced many figures of speech: brouiller les cartes (1611), château de cartes (1690), le dessous des cartes (1675), tirer les cartes (1811), jouer cartes sur table (1832).[2][3] The sense “pasteboard” (15th century) survives in carte blanche (1549, bailler la carte blanche), a blank paper, hence full freedom of action.[2][3]

Cards of many uses followed: the bill (1743) and then the menu in a restaurant (1803), whence dîner à la carte (1813); admission and identity cards (1790, carte d'identité 1789); carte de visite (1811); the postcard, carte-poste (1870) and carte postale (1877); carte perforée (1963) and carte de crédit (1969), a calque of English credit card.[2][3] The geographical map is attested from 1532 (BHVF), earlier than the TLFi's 1635, Mlle de Scudéry's Carte du Tendre (1654–60) is an allegorical map of love.[9][2][3]

Timeline

  • 1393 – Playing cards, Ménagier de Paris.[2]
  • 1532 – A map.[9]
  • 1549 – Carte blanche.[2]
  • 1611 – Brouiller les cartes, Cotgrave.[2]
  • 1654–60 – The Carte du Tendre.[2]
  • 1803 – A restaurant menu.[2]
  • 1811 – Carte de visite.[2]
  • 1877 – Carte postale.[2]
  • 1969 – Carte de crédit.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A card; a playing card: jouer aux cartes, un jeu de cartes.[7][1]
  2. A card serving as a document: carte d'identité, carte bancaire, carte de visite, carte postale.[1][3]
  3. A map, chart: carte routière, carte marine.[1][10]
  4. A menu in a restaurant: manger à la carte, carte des vins.[1][11]
  5. Carte blanche: a free hand.[12][3]
  6. Set phrases: jouer cartes sur table, to be open, brouiller les cartes, to confuse the issue, château de cartes, house of cards.[1][3]
  7. (computing) A circuit board, card: carte mère, carte à puce.[1][3]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 627a
  7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  12. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Carte.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/carte. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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