Carte Blanche

Unlimited authority--granted by one person to another--to impose conditions which will be binding upon the person granting such authority.

The signature of an individual or more, on a white paper, with a sufficient space left above it to write a note or other writing.

In the course of business, it not unfrequently occurs that for the sake of convenience, signatures in blank are given with authority to fill them up.. These are binding upon the parties. But the blank must be filled up by the very person authorized.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.