carte de visite
Preserved but no longer current.
A visiting card; a photographic likeness on a card, originally intended to be used as a visiting card. The idea was started in 1857, but it never "caught on," as such, although the small size of photo- graph became very popular. Cartel (kar tel'J, This is a word with several meanings. Originally it was applied only to a written agreement between opponents in a war arranging the exchange of prisoners.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “carte de visite” mean?
A visiting card; a photographic likeness on a card, originally intended to be used as a visiting card. The idea was started in 1857, but it never "caught on," as such, although the small size of photo- graph became very popular. Cartel (kar tel'J, This is a word with several meanings. Originally it was applied only to a written agreement between opponents in a war arranging the exchange of prisoners.
Is “carte de visite” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.