Comments on: Thingamajig Thursday: cartouche

By: bob

bob — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 02:11:57 +0000

“cartouche” in French means “cartridge”. I was told by a teacher in middle school that the french gave the name to the oval around Egyptian names in heiroglphs because of the shape. However, the French cartouche, meaning cartridge, comes from Italian cartoccio “roll of paper”, the idea being a roll of paper containing a charge for a firearm.

By: charlie

charlie — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 17:42:29 +0000

Cartouche, with the same meaning, is also used to describe a piece of greaseproof paper cut into a circle with holes punched in it.
It’s used to keep ingredients submerged in a pan when cooking in liquid.

By: Katie

Katie — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 16:01:42 +0000

I believe cartouches are also the oval in which Egyptian names were written in heiroglyphs. Very similar-they are long ovals that look like they have feet.