Etymologically
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carte

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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)