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cartel

[kahr-tel]
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noun

an international syndicate, combine, or trust formed especially to regulate prices and output in some field of business.
a coalition of political or special-interest groups having a common cause, as to encourage the passage of a certain law.
a written agreement between belligerents, especially for the exchange of prisoners.
a written challenge to a duel.

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RELATED WORDS

monopoly, corporation, conglomerate, gang, syndicate, mob, ring, consortium, crowd, chain, outfit, crew, combine, trust, pool, bunch, multinational

Origin of cartel

1550–60; < Middle French < Italian cartello letter of defiance, poster, equivalent to cart(a) carte + -ello diminutive suffix
Related formscar·tel·ism, noun

Synonyms for cartel

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cartel ON THESAURUS.COM
1. monopoly, merger, combination.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

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British Dictionary definitions for cartel

cartel

noun

Also called: trust a collusive international association of independent enterprises formed to monopolize production and distribution of a product or service, control prices, etc
politics an alliance of parties or interests to further common aims

Word Origin for cartel

C20: from German Kartell, from French, from Italian cartello a written challenge, public notice, diminutive of carta card 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cartel
n.

1550s, "a written challenge," from Middle French cartel (16c.), from Italian cartello "placard," diminutive of carta "card" (see card (n.1)). It came to mean "written agreement between challengers" (1690s) and then "a written agreement between challengers" (1889). Sense of "a commercial trust, an association of industrialists" comes 1902, via German Kartell, which is from French. The older U.S. term for that is trust (n.). The usual German name for them was Interessengemeinschaft, abbreviated IG.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Culture definitions for cartel

cartel

[(kahr-tel)]

An association in which producers of a similar or identical product try to obtain a monopoly over the sale of the product.

Note

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a cartel.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.