cartel

noun

car·​tel kär-ˈtel 

1

: a written agreement between belligerent nations

2

: a combination of independent commercial or industrial enterprises designed to limit competition or fix prices

illegal drug cartels

3

: a combination of political groups for common action

Did you know?

The literal meaning of Italian cartello, a derivative of carta, “leaf of paper,” is “placard.” The word is also used for a letter of defiance or a challenge. In this sense the Italian word was borrowed into Middle French as cartel, and the French word was borrowed into English. In English, a cartel was originally a letter of defiance. Later the word came to be used for a written agreement between warring nations to regulate such matters as the treatment and exchange of prisoners. Another type of agreement, a combination of commercial enterprises, is now called a cartel.

Did you know?

A cartel is an organization of a few independent producers for the purpose of improving the profitability of the firms involved. This usually involves some restriction of output, control of price, and allocation of market shares. Members of a cartel generally maintain their separate identities and financial independence while engaging in cooperative policies. Cartels can either be domestic or international. Because cartels restrict competition and result in higher prices for consumers, they are outlawed in some countries. The only industry operating in the U.S. with a blanket exemption from the antitrust laws is major-league baseball.

Synonyms

• combination
• combine
• syndicate
• trust

Examples of cartel in a Sentence

a cartel of oil-producing nations that controls production and influences prices

Recent Examples on the Web

The Tuesday filing includes a handwritten envelope sent to the judge from Guzmán, who was convicted in 2019 of running the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico. —ABC News, 11 Apr. 2024

Democrats have long benefited from alliances with teacher unions, campus radicals, and the bureaucrats who run the college cartel. —Frederick M. Hess and Michael McShane, TIME, 10 Apr. 2024

As Fisher and Kaval are protected by the Major League Baseball cartel and incapable of feeling shame, all options for their future remain on the table. —Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024

Byron Donalds: Mayorkas is working hard for the radical left and drug cartels Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., reacts to the House voting to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the crisis at the U.S. southern border. —Bradford Betz, Fox News, 1 Apr. 2024

And even those employees are vulnerable to the cartel’s ruthlessness. —Maria Abi-Habib, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024

Amid persistently high rates of cartel violence, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, has granted the armed forces even more expansive powers, including oversight over the country’s air and sea ports. —Gustavo Flores-Macías, Foreign Affairs, 20 Mar. 2024

That cartel culture presents itself as tales of resistance and coming out of poverty. —Holly Jones, Variety, 20 Mar. 2024

The new action film follows an undercover DEA agent and his partner in El Paso, Texas, on a game of cat and mouse with a group of thieves who just happen to be their rebellious teenagers robbing from a dangerous cartel and using their parents’ tactics and top-secret intel to succeed. —Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, letter of defiance, from Old Italian cartello, literally, placard, from carta leaf of paper — more at card entry 1

First Known Use

1692, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

cartel

noun

car·​tel kär-ˈtel 

: a combination of business firms to control world markets and fix prices