Forms: 3–7 carte, (3 karte, 3–4 kart), 6 (charte), Sc. cairt, 3– cart. [OE. had cræt neut., pl. cratu, app. related to Du. krat neut. ‘hind part of a cart’ (which is, however, only mod. Du. and suspected to be of recent adoption). Some compare OHG. cratto, crezzo, masc., MHG. kratte, kretze (m. and f.) basket, hamper, panier, mod.G. dial. krätze fem., basket (cf. CRATE), and suppose that OE. cræt was prop. a cart of basket-work, but of this there is no actual evidence. ON. had kart-r, masc. ‘cart,’ generally considered to be cognate with the OE. word; and since the ME. was always cart(e, and never crat, its direct source appears to have been the ON., rather than the OE. word.
If ME. cart(e had merely arisen by metathesis of r from OE. cræt, we should expect some overlapping of forms as in the case of brid, bird; one may note, however, that OE. cræt-wǽn exists in mod. Welsh as cartwen. Cart has entered from Eng. into most of the Celtic langs.; but is there palpably a foreign word.]
† 1. A carriage of any kind; a chariot, car. Obs.
[a. 800. Corpus Gloss., Carruca (MS. carcura), cræt.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Gen. l. 9. He hæfde … cratu and ridende men.
c. 1050. Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, 426/6. In carruca on cræte.]
c. 1200. Ormin, 48. Alls iff þeȝȝ karte wærenn off wheless fowwre.
c. 1205. Lay., 11396. Mid carte he [Aldolf] for to Lundene.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6220. He … cuppel did his cartes all.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter lxvii. 18. Þe kart of god is ten thowsand manyfald.
1382. Wyclif, Matt., Prol. They ben as foure whelis in the foure horsid carte of the lord.
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, 943. Pheton wolde lede Algate hys Fader Carte.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 62. Cart, biga, reda, quadriga.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 72/2. Salamon had xl M. Packes for the horses of his cartes, chases, and curres.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. viii. 34. On every side of his embatteld cart.
1602. Shaks., Ham., III. ii. 165. Full thirtie Times hath Phoebus Cart gon round Neptunes salt Wash, and Tellus Orbed ground.
2. spec. A strong vehicle with two wheels, and without springs, used in farming operations, and for carrying heavy goods of various kinds. (Distinguished from a wagon, which has four wheels.)
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 189. So gret charge … Of mules, of cartes, and of hors mydde alle gode.
c. 1325. E. E. Allit. P., 1259. To cayre at þe kart & þe kuy mylke.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Nonnes Pr. T., 200. A carte ful of donge ther shalt thou see.
c. 1450. Merlin, ii. 37. This erthe may be hadde a-wey … in cartes.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 19. Any wodde, cole, or tymbre to cary … with thy charte or wayne.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., II. iii. VII. (1651), 350. As good horses draw in carts, as coaches.
1623. J. Taylor (Water P.), World on Wheeles (1630), 235. A Cart is the Embleme of a Man, and a Coach is the figure of a Beast: for as man hath two legges, a cart hath two wheeles.
1847. Emerson, Poems, Monadnoc. Their talismans are ploughs and carts.
1877. ‘H. A. Page,’ De Quincey, I. vii. 128. A common farmer’s cart was brought.
b. With various sbs. indicating its use, as baggage-, dung-, dust-, harvest-, hay-, luggage-cart, etc., or the animal that draws it, as donkey-cart.
1642. in Thornbury, Haunted London (1865), 385. Paid to the same for the night-cart and cover … £7 9s.
1710. Brit. Apollo, III. No. 26. 3/2. I … was Poyson’d with Night-Carts.
1791. ‘G. Gambado,’ Ann. Horsem., v. (1809), 89. On a hay, pea, or dust cart. Ibid., xv. 126. Some Mackerel carts on the road.
1802. Med. Jrnl., VIII. 52. Conveyed here on the baggage cart.
1849. Robertson, Serm., Ser. I. ii. (1866), 23. Wheat, dropped by a harvest cart upon a road.
† c. Formerly used for conveying convicts to the gallows, and instead of a drop; also for the public exposure and chastisement of offenders, esp. lewd women. Cf. CART v. 2, CART’S-TAIL. Obs.
1624. Heywood, Captives, V. iii. in Bullen, O. Pl., IV. 203. They will spitt at us and doome us Unto the post and cart.
1682. Dryden, Loyal Bro., Prol. 34. Like thief and parson in a Tyburn-cart.
1708. in Picton, L’pool Munic. Rec. (1886), II. 81. That Margt Justice be whipt the next day … att a cart’s arse, and … Jane Justice be carryed in the cart att the same time from the Exchange to Jane Justice’s house.
1800. Coleridge, Piccolom., I. xii. Your windows and balconies all forestall’d To see him on the executioner’s cart.
1861. Thackeray, Lovel, 263 (Hoppe). She was always fitting the halter and traversing the cart … but she for ever declined to drop the handkerchief and have the business over.
3. A two-wheeled vehicle of lighter or more elegant make, with springs, drawn by one horse at a rapid pace. Often specified as spring-cart (which varies least from 2), mail cart, village cart; also DOG-CART, TAX(ED) CART, q.v.
1823. Act 4 Geo. IV., xcv. § 19. Any … chaise, curricle, gig, chair, or taxed cart.
1835. Sir G. Stephen, Adv. in Search Horse, ii. 34. Tradesmen who require light carts for the conveyance of their goods.
1848. Thackeray, Lett., 1 Nov. A party of us drove in an Oxford Cart to Blenheim.
Mod. He met me at the station with his village cart.
† 4. Some kind of transport vessel. (? error.)
1568. C. Watson, Polyb., i. 26. After the third Navy came the carts [τὰς ἰππηγούς] and foists in which their horses were transported.
5. Proverbs and Phrases. To set or put the cart before the horse: to reverse the natural or proper order. † To be left out of the cart’s tail: (see quot.). † To keep cart on wheels: ? ‘to keep straight,’ or ‘to keep things going.’
[1340. Ayenb., 243. Moche uolk of religion zetteþ þe zuolȝ be-uore þe oksen.]
1520. Whitinton, Vulg. (1527), 2. That techer setteth the carte before the horse that preferreth imitacyon before preceptes.
a. 1541. Wyatt, Defence, 265. It is a common proverb, ‘I am left out of the carts tail,’ and it is taken upon packing gear together for carriage, that it is evil taken heed to, or negligently, slips out of the cart, and is lost.
1587. Mirr. Mag., Q. Cordila, v. 5. Lest I set the horse behinde the cart.
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie (Arb.), 181. We call it in English prouerbe, the cart before the horse, the Greeks call it Histeron proteron, we name it the Preposterous.
1605. Shaks., Lear, I. iv. 244. May not an Asse know, when the Cart drawes the Horse?
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Oye, The cart leads the horse; the young instruct the old.
1662. Newcome, Diary (1849), 56. I must walke closer with God or I cannot keep cart on wheeles.
6. Comb., as cart-driver (formerly also = charioteer), -filler, -gelding, -grease, -harness, -horse, -jade, -maker, -pitch, -road, -room, -rope, -shed, -thill, -track (-tract); cart-aver (Sc.) a cart-horse (see AVER sb. 3); † cart-band, ? the tire of a cart-wheel; cart-body, that part of a cart which holds the load (see BODY sb. 8 b); † cart-bote, -boot (Feudal Syst.), an allowance of wood to a tenant for making and repairing carts (see BOOT sb.1 5 b); † cart-bread (see quot.); † cart-clout, an iron plate to protect the axle-tree from wear; † cart-gate = CART-WAY; † cart-gun, ? a cannon mounted on a carriage; cart-head, the front of a cart (cf. CART’S-TAIL); cart-ladder (-leather), a rack or framework at the front, back, or sides of a cart, to increase its carrying capacity; called also lead-trees; cart-man, a man who drives a cart; † cart-nave, ? the nave of a cart-wheel; † cart-piece, ? = cart-gun; † cart-ritt = cart-rut; cart-road = CART-WAY; cart-ruck, -rut, the deep rut cut in soft ground by the wheels of a cart; hence cart-rutted a.; cart-saddle, the small saddle placed on the back of a cart- or carriage-horse to support the shafts; also † as v. trans., to put a cart-saddle on, to yoke; † cart-spur, -spirn, a cart-track [OE. spor track; cf. SPOOR]; † cart-staff, the shaft of a cart; also applied to other parts of a cart; † cart-taker, the officer who impressed carts for the king’s service; so † cart-taking; cart-tire, the tire of a cart-wheel; cart-track, a track along which a cart has gone; a cart-rut; cart-warping (see quot.). See also CART-FUL, -HORSE, -HOUSE, -LOAD, -TAIL, -WAY, -WHEEL, -WHIP, -WRIGHT.
1822. Scott, Pirate, iv. The carles and the *cart-avers … make it all; and the carles and the cart-avers eat it all.
1483. Cath. Angl., 54. A *carte band, crusta.
1594. West, Symbol., ii. Chancerie, § 88. Surrender … the said tenement and premisses … with sufficient *cartbote, heybote, and hedgebote.
1726. Ayliffe, Parerg., 506. If a man cuts Trees for … Cartboot, Ploughboot and Fireboot.
1580. Baret, Alv., C 149. Bread solde in markets in London; *cart bread.
1446. Wills & Inv. N. C. (1835), I. 95. J carecta cum rotis iiij hopis et viij *cartecloutez.
1622. F. Markham, Bk. War, III. x. 119. Nailes for Tyers, and all other purposes … Spunges, Chaines, Cart-clouts, Weights.
1611. Speed, Hist. Gt. Brit., VI. viii. A Prince? nay an Incendiary … a Stage-plaier, a *Cart-driuer.
c. 1505. Dunbar, Compl. to King, 25. Chaff-midden churls cuming off *cart-fillaris.
1594. Manch. Crt. Leet Rec. (1885), II. 89. There hath bene a *Cartgate … betwixte the landes.
1773. Gentl. Mag., XLIII. 644. *Cart-grease must be used.
1550. Hall, Chron. 18 Hen. VIII., 156. The Cardinal … had there *cart gonnes ready charged.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xviii. Mending his *cart-harness.
1812. W. Tennant, Anster Fair, IX. On his *cart-head, sits the goodman.
1580. Sidney, Arcadia (1622), 174. He came out with al his clownes, horst vpon such *cart-iades, & so furnished [etc.].
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 5. And a *cart ladder behinde, whan he shall cary eyther corne or kyddes, or such other…. Theyr waynes haue carte ladders bothe behynde and before.
1727. Bradley, Fam. Dict., I. s.v. Cart, The Cart-Leathers.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., s.v. Cart, Cart-ladders, the crooked pieces set over the wheels to keep hay and straw loaden off them.
1580. North, Plutarch, 138. *Cart-makers … Sadlers, Coller-makers.
1719–54. W. Sewel, Eng.-Dutch Dict., s.v. Sleeper, The *Cart-men at London.
1807. W. Irving, Salmag. (1824), 212. A cartman driving full-tilt through Broadway.
1881. Echo, 28 Jan., 4/3. Embezzlement by a Cartman.
1882. Atlantic Monthly, XLIX. 678. Nearly all the cartmen and porters are negroes.
c. 1450. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 628. Timpana *cartenave.
a. 1670. Spalding, Troub. Chas. I., 14 May, Thair cam … tua uther iron *cart peices to the schoir.
1865. Tylor, Early Hist. Man., ix. 255. Well smeared with *cart-pitch and tar.
1649. G. Daniel, Trinarch., Rich. II., clxxxv. Revenue run’s faire … The other *Cart-Ritt holds but for a while.
1868. ‘Holme Lee,’ B. Godfrey, II. xxx. 69. A *cart-road which plunged deep into a wood.
1832. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. V. (1863), 445. A miniature farm-yard, with stabling for two, *cart-room for one.
1535. Coverdale, Isa. v. 18. Wo vnto vayne persones, that drawe … synne, as it were with a *cart rope.
1623. Massinger, Bondman, I. iii. A cart-rope Shall not bind me at home.
1659. Gauden, Brownrig (1660), 162. He drew all … not by the cart-ropes of rigor and imperiousness.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, xi. I will have his meaning from him … if I should drag it out with cart-ropes.
1823. Lamb, Elia, Oxford in Vac., 319. The … quill, that has plodded … among the *cart-rucks of figures and ciphers.
1601. Holland, Pliny, II. 351. The earth taken from a *cart-rut where a wheele hath gon.
1669. Woodhead, St. Teresa, II. xxxv. 233. To pull the coaches out of the cart-rotes.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr., I. 135. The cart-rut rippled down With the burden of the rain.
1881. E. F. Poynter, Among the Hills, I. 153. A steep, *cart-rutted lane.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. II. 179. *Cartesadel the comissarie, Oure cart shal he lede.
1692. Lond. Gaz., No. 2777/4. A black punch Gelding … gall’d with the Cart-Saddle on the off side.
1483. Cath. Angl., 55. A *carte spurre, orbita.
1528. St. Papers Hen. VII., IV. 496. It haith chaunced me … to take a fall of my horse, and to breke my left arme, overthuart a cartspirn.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2198. Ȝe beþ men þet iteiȝt to ssofle & to spade To *cartstaf & to ploustaf.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., s.v. Cart, Cartstaves, those that hold the cart and the raers together.
1455. in Househ. Ord. (1790), 24. *Carte Takers. Richard Rede. James Bateman.
1653. A. Wilson, Jas. I., 11. Purveyors, Cart-takers, and such insolent Officers as were grievances to the people.
1782. S. Pegge, Curialia Misc. (1818), 33. The King’s Cart-takers, a post which is now in being, though out of use.
1671. F. Philipps, Reg. Necess., 46. To be freed from Pourveyance and *Cart-taking.
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 493. The French white Ash … will bend well for *cart-thills and fellies. Ibid., II. 365. Snailes (such … as are found betweene two *cart-tracts).
1827. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. I. (1863), 60. The roads through the coppice … have the appearance of mere cart-tracks.
1839. Stonehouse, Axholme, 43. Another method by which the sediment of the Trent water is made highly beneficial to the adjoining land … is termed *‘cart warping,’ the alluvial soil being led on the land during a hard frost or in very dry weather.
