Would you like to be given unrestricted authority to do whatever you like? To get away with this, you may need a permission slip, a get-out-of-jail-free card, or an official document that allows unfettered access to anything you desire.
That’s what “carte blanche” means. It translates literally from French as “blank paper,” but in legal or business proceedings, it’s “a blank document signed in advance by one party to an agreement and given to the other with permission to fill in the conditions.” And now the term “carte blanche” has broadened beyond documents to signify giving someone unrestricted authority.
“Carte blanche” (sometimes written as “chart blanche” or “charte blanche” in its earliest uses) dates back to the beginning of the 18th century. In one historical example, Thomas Wentworth, the First Earl of Strafford, referred to its application in negotiations where one party yielded broad latitude to another.
By the mid-18th century, it was customary for a man of wealth or importance to sign blank sheets of paper, so that a trusted subordinate could fill in the necessary order or business letter on his behalf — it was a way to outsource details of decision-making. Through the 18th and 19th centuries, this term was used in diplomatic treaties, military commissions, and social contracts, such as when affluent men extended financial benefits to their mistresses. Such trust!
The precursor to “carte blanche” was the medieval “blank charter” (charte blanche), such as those issued under Richard II in the 14th century (and recorded in Shakespeare’s Richard II). The blank charters were presigned instruments allowing crown agents to insert conditions, grants, or obligations, as circumstances demanded, to enforce royal will. The blanks facilitated flexible governance but carried risks of abuse.
“Carte” is ultimately from the Greek khartēs (“layer of papyrus”), probably from Egyptian, via the Latin charta (“leaf of paper, a writing tablet”). That same root is the source of many English words, including “à la carte,” “card,” “cartel,” “cartography,” “carton,” “cartridge,” “chart,” “charter,” and “discard”; it’s also the basis of the Magna Carta (literally “Great Charter”).
“Blanche” is from the Proto-Indo-European *bhel-, which means “to shine, flash, burn; appear white.” It’s the source of such words as “beluga,” “blanch,” “blanket,” “blaze,” “bleach,” “bleak,” “blemish,” “blend,” “blind,” “blond,” “blue,” “blush,” and even “black” (“thoroughly burned”).
If you’re ever given a signed blank check with no instructions, you may have carte blanche to do with it whatever you like — but beware the consequences from the account holder.
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