Anime and cartoons are not the same. Even though you can call some cartoons anime because of their distinguishable features and unique art style, in reality, anime are Japanese-inspired animated characters. Another difference between anime and cartoons is that the form has some semi-realistic animation style, but the latter is completely non-realistic.
A fun fact about anime vs. cartoon is that anime got first introduced in the early years of the 20th century, but cartoons were introduced way before that. Anime has different types, styles, and features, but you can easily recognize them. For example, it won’t be difficult for you to differentiate between Naruto, a manga series, and Barbie cartoons.