Stiff, thick paper made of layers, commonly used to make boxes and packaging.
From 'card' (stiff paper made from fibers) + 'board' (flat piece of wood or similar material). 'Card' comes from Italian 'carta' (paper), from Latin 'charta.' Originally referred to fine quality pasteboard used for playing cards in the 1600s.
Cardboard was actually a luxury item first—early cardboard was used for expensive playing cards, which is why it's called 'card-board.' It didn't become the cheap packaging material we know until industrial manufacturing in the 1800s made it affordable.
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