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DictionaryRoot: carta
Italian

carta

card, paper

1 / 1
Two rival business representatives agree to keep prices identical: they shake hands across a small table, each beside a separate sample of the same product bearing the same price tag.
noun

cartel

kar-TEL/kɑːrˈtel/

An organization of producers or dealers controlling a market.

Etymology
cartItaliancard, paper
+elItaliandiminutive

The diminutive of carta named a placard or written notice. Through the senses of a written challenge and then a written agreement, cartel came to name an association of businesses controlling trade by agreement.

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