Meanings
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1
noun
a menu or bill of fare
The restaurant offered a short carte that changed with the season.
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2
noun
historical: a visiting card, especially a small photographic portrait known as a carte de visite
She enclosed her carte so that the household would know who had called.
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3
noun
in the expression 'carte blanche': a blank document, hence unrestricted authority to act
The director gave the designer carte blanche to rebuild the entire set.
Thesaurus
Etymology
Borrowed from French carte, 'card, paper, map, or menu,' from Latin charta, 'sheet of papyrus or paper.' Card and chart are doublets from the same family. English retains carte independently for a menu and historical calling card, and within French-derived expressions such as carte blanche and a la carte.