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Architecture. a rounded, convex surface, usually surrounded with carved ornamental scrollwork, for receiving a painted or low-relief decoration, as an escutcheon.
an oval or oblong figure, as on ancient Egyptian monuments, enclosing characters that represent the name of a sovereign.
the case containing the inflammable materials in certain fireworks.
cartridge (def 1).
a box for cartridges.
Historical Examples

My friend, you must drive out cartouche, because cartouche is no more.
The Man With the Black Feather Gaston Leroux

“Give him another ball,” said cartouche; and another was fired into him.
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh William Makepeace Thackeray

Beneath this has been a cartouche, the greater portion of which is unfortunately cut away.
The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland Daniel Wilson

XX, 29, is perhaps a name compounded with that of a king, the latter being in a cartouche.
El Kab J.E. Quibell

This portrait, which is your portrait, is the portrait of that great eighteenth-century king of thieves, cartouche!
The Man With the Black Feather Gaston Leroux

It is a cartouche, and those are hieroglyphics—his name in Egyptian.
That Fortune Charles Dudley Warner

cartouche, in Egyptian buildings, a hieroglyphic signifying the name of a king or other important person.
Architecture Thomas Roger Smith

You agree that cartouche is your real name and not a nickname?
The Man With the Black Feather Gaston Leroux

I would give anything to have known Vidocq and cartouche and Rocambole, and to have seen them at close quarters.
Fantmas Pierre Souvestre

But you have also the soul of cartouche, which is detestable.
The Man With the Black Feather Gaston Leroux

noun
a carved or cast ornamental tablet or panel in the form of a scroll, sometimes having an inscription
an oblong figure enclosing characters expressing royal or divine names in Egyptian hieroglyphics
the paper case holding combustible materials in certain fireworks
(rare) a cartridge or a box for cartridges
n.

1610s, “scroll-like ornament,” also “paper cartridge,” from French cartouche, the French form of cartridge (q.v.). Application to Egyptian hieroglyphics dates from 1830, on resemblance to rolled paper cartridges.