Everyday LifeGreek → English
Card
/kɑːrd/noun
A small stiff rectangle of paper or plastic used for playing, greeting, identifying or paying.
The Greek roots
χάρτης
chártēs
sheet of papyrus
Literally: “papyrus sheet”
Follow a root:χάρτης7 words
The story of the word
Behind card sits chártēs, one sheet cut from the pith of the papyrus plant. Latin made it charta, Italian carta, and English ended up holding the same word twice: card through French carte, chart straight from the Latin. Playing cards reached Europe in the 1370s and brought the name with them. Charter, cartridge, carton and cartoon all rest on that one papyrus sheet.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 15th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
chartchartercartooncartridge
In a sentence
He kept her postcard on the fridge for eleven years.
Tap the card, wait for the beep, walk through.