Etymograph

English

cartography

Cartography comes from French carte ‘map’, from Ancient Greek χᾰρᾰ́σσω ‘to scratch’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰer-1‘to scratch’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχᾰρᾰ́σσω1khărắssō‘to scratch’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχάρτης2khártēs‘map’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcharta3
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentcarte2‘map’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentcartographie2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2000cartography2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek χάρτης, which cites Beekes, Chantraine
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English cartography
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French carte
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2000, Stanislav Grof: “In the early years of my psychedelic research, I…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰer-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek χάρτης, which cites Beekes, Chantraine‘to scratch’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχᾰρᾰ́σσωWiktionary, Ancient Greek χάρτης, which cites Beekes, Chantrainekhărắssō‘to scratch’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEχάρτηςWiktionary, English cartographykhártēs‘map’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEchartaWiktionary, French carte
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentcarteWiktionary, English cartography‘map’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentcartographieWiktionary, English cartography
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2000cartographyWiktionary, English cartography. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2000, Stanislav Grof: “In the early years of my psychedelic research, I…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- ‘to scratch’

girl, rocket, chronic, chorus, synchronous, urchin, crony, synchronize, cron, germanium, 34 more

through Ancient Greek χάρτης ‘map’

charter, 13 more

through Latin charta

card, chart, cartridge, cartel, cartouche, 11 more

through French carte ‘map’

carte

Today it means

noun The creation of charts and maps based on the layout of a territory's geography.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cartography”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek χάρτης, French carte. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- / cartography

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