cartão

Forms

cartão m (plural cartões)^[1] The first record, of 1595, is spelt quartão;^[2] cartão follows in 1619.^[2] Pereira's dictionary of 1697 still refers cartão to quartão.^[3]

Etymology

Houaiss, Cunha and the DLP take it as borrowed from French carton (“thick paper, pasteboard”), itself from Italian cartone.^[2][4][5] Aurélio derives it directly from the Italian word.^[6] Wiktionary, Vieira, Silva Bastos, Figueiredo and Michaelis instead explain it as formed from Portuguese carta + -ão, with the augmentative suffix.^{[1][7][8][9][10]}

The Italian word, recorded in 1508, is carta (“paper”) with the augmentative suffix -one, and goes back to Latin charta.^[2][11] French took it about 1500.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, of 1595, has the spelling quartão;^[2][4] Cunha dates the word to the 17th century, with the senses “pasteboard” and “a rectangle of pasteboard to write on”.^[2][4] A private letter of 1607 writes cartao.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Morais in 1789 knows it only as a term of architecture, sculpture and painting: the figure of a scroll rolled at both ends, often with a space for an inscription, which he illustrates from the Vida do Arcebispo with hum grande cartão com as armas do Santo “a great cartouche with the saint's arms”.^[13] Vieira, who names Frei Luís de Sousa as the author of that line, adds the sense “fine white paper for drawing”.^[7] The original Aulete has the painter's cartoon, a drawing on strong paper made as the model for a fresco, tapestry or mosaic, and Figueiredo in 1899 adds “visiting card”.^[14][9]

The 20th century brought the punched card of data processing, the plastic identity and bank card, and the yellow and red cards of football, from which the figurative cartão amarelo “a warning”.^[2][15][5] In Portugal it also means a membership card.^[2]

Timeline

• 1595 – first record, spelt quartão.^[2]
• 1607 – cartao in a private letter.^[12]
• 1619 – first record of the spelling cartão.^[2]
• 1697 – Pereira refers cartão to quartão.^[3]
• 1789 – Morais records the architectural sense “cartouche”.^[13]
• 1899 – Figueiredo adds “visiting card”.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. cardboard, pasteboard: thick paper made by pasting or pressing several layers together: uma caixa de cartão.^[2][5][16]
2. A small rectangle of thick paper used for writing a message; a card, especially a visiting card (cartão de visita).^[2][5][16]
3. A plastic card for identification or banking: cartão de crédito, cartão de estudante.^[15][16][14]
4. (art) A cartoon: a full-size drawing on strong paper used as a model for a painting, tapestry or mosaic.^[2][6]
5. A ticket, pass or token.^[2][6]
6. (football) A coloured card the referee shows a player for a foul: cartão amarelo, cartão vermelho.^[2][15][5]
7. (figurative) A warning or sign of displeasure.^[15][5]
8. (Portugal) A membership card.^[2]
9. (computing, dated) A punched card.^[2][6]
10. (entomology) A cardboard-like substance some insects make for their nests.^[2]

Related words

• carta
• cartolina
• papelão
• French carton
• Italian cartone

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. cartão
3. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. cartão
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. cartão
5. ^ a b c d e f Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. cartão
6. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. cartão
7. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 126
8. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. cartão
9. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. cartão
10. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. cartão
11. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. carton
12. ^ a b CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. cartão
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 240
14. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. cartão
15. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. cartão
16. ^ a b c Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 1846