cartes

Cartes is the plural form of the French noun carte, a term with several related but distinct meanings. It can denote cards used in daily life, including playing cards (cartes à jouer), business cards (cartes de visite), greeting cards, credit cards (cartes de crédit), SIM cards (cartes SIM), and other card-like items. It also refers to maps or charts, a sense rooted in the word’s Latin origin and widely used in geography and navigation; examples include cartographic maps (cartes géographiques) and nautical charts (cartes marines). Additionally, carte is used for restaurant menus, where la carte refers to the list of dishes, with à la carte indicating individual item pricing rather than a fixed menu.

In technology and computing, carte means a physical circuit or interface component, such as a graphics card (carte graphique), sound card (carte son), or network card (carte réseau), typically installed inside a computer. The term also appears in everyday devices: a bank card (carte bancaire), an identity card (carte d’identité), or a voting card (carte d’électeur) in various contexts. In French, the phrase carte mère is used for the motherboard, and other expansion cards are described with the same noun.

Etymology traces cartesian usage to Old French carte, from Latin carta meaning paper or sheet, later expanding to maps and cards. Across its senses, cartes retain a core idea of a tangible or defined unit used for identification, navigation, transaction, or selection.