noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/kɑːˈtɛl/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:/kɑɹˈtɛl/
rhymes with -ɛl
CMU ARPABET:K AA0 R T EH1 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A group of businesses or nations that collude to limit competition within an industry or market.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: economics, sciences
Examples
oil cartel
drug cartel
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A combination of political groups (notably parties) for common action.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Topics: government, politics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A written letter of defiance or challenge.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
An official agreement concerning the exchange of prisoners.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Topics: law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
A ship used to negotiate with an enemy in time of war, and to exchange prisoners.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Topics: nautical, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
a consortium of independent organizations formed to limit competition by controlling the production and distribution of a product or service
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
they set up the trust in the hope of gaining a monopoly
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: trust, corporate trust, combine
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: consortium, pool, syndicate
Narrower terms: drug cartel, oil cartel
History
Etymology
In the business sense, borrowed from German Kartell, first used by Eugen Richter in 1871 in the Reichstag. In the political sense, which was the vehicle for this metaphor, the English sense, like the German sense, was borrowed from French cartel in the sixteenth century, from Italian cartello, diminutive of carta (“card, page”), from Latin charta.
Across languages
Translations
33 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
картел
(kartel)
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Catalan:
càrtel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Chinese Mandarin:
卡特爾 /卡特尔
(kǎtè'ěr)
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Czech:
kartel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Danish:
kartel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Dutch:
kartel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Finnish:
kartelli
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
French:
cartel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
German:
Kartell
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Hebrew:
קרטל
(kart'el)
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Icelandic:
einokunarhringur
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Indonesian:
kartel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Japanese:
カルテル
(karuteru)
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Kazakh:
картель
(kartel)
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Korean:
카르텔
(kareutel)
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Norwegian Bokmål:
kartell
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kartell
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Persian:
کارتل
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Polish:
kartel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Portuguese:
cartel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Romanian:
cartel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Russian:
карте́ль
(kartɛ́lʹ)
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Spanish:
cártel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Spanish:
cartel
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Swedish:
kartell
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Urdu:
مافیا
(māfiyā)
— group of businesses or nations that collude to fix prices
Dutch:
kartel
— combination of political groups
French:
cartel
— combination of political groups
Indonesian:
kartel
— combination of political groups
Russian:
карте́ль
(kartɛ́lʹ)
— combination of political groups
Russian:
карте́ль
(kartɛ́lʹ)
— written challenge or defiance
Polish:
kartel
— official agreement concerning exchange of prisoners
Russian:
карте́ль
(kartɛ́lʹ)
— official agreement concerning exchange of prisoners
