Cartoning

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of assembling containers for storage and protection of products entails organizing items into boxes for transport and display
2. The procedure involves creating and assembling box structures to package items securely while facilitating their transport and presentation
3. The process of constructing packaging by folding and sealing materials into box shapes for the purpose of storing goods involves ensuring items are protected and neatly presented

Etymology: "Cartoning" is the present participle and gerund of "carton," so its history is essentially that of the parent word. "Carton" was borrowed from French, where it meant a pasteboard or cardboard container, and the French word came from Italian "cartone," an augmentative of "carta," meaning paper. The Italian sense of "cartone" was a large sheet of heavy paper, and that is the same root that gives English its word "cartoon." That link is the surprising part: "carton" and "cartoon" are doublets, two words descended from the same Italian source that entered English by different routes. "Cartoon" came in through the artist's preparatory drawing on heavy paper, while "carton" carried the sense of a stiff paper box, so the box and the comic drawing share a common ancestor in the idea of thick paper. The verb-like "-ing" form simply names the process of making such boxes, which is why "cartoning" appears in packaging contexts, where the meaning has narrowed from paper in general to a folded, sealed container.

Synonyms: boxing, packaging, wrapping