cardinal

Etymology

From French cardinal, from Latin cardinālis (“pertaining to a hinge, hence applied to that on which something turns or depends, important, principal, chief”), from cardō (“hinge”) + -ālis, adjectival suffix.

A cardinal.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑː.dɪ.nəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑɹdɪnəl/, /ˈkɑɹdnəl/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

Adjective

cardinal (comparative more cardinal, superlative most cardinal)

1. Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.

   a cardinal rule

   • Shakespeare

     But cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, I fear ye.

   • Sir Thomas Browne

     the cardinal intersections of the zodiac

   • Drayton

     Impudence is now a cardinal virtue.

2. (nautical) Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).

   a cardinal mark

3. Describing a "natural" number used to indicate quantity (e.g., one, two, three), as opposed to an ordinal number indicating relative position.
4. Having a bright red color (from the color of a Catholic cardinal's cassock).

Noun

cardinal (plural cardinals)

1. A number indicating quantity, or the size of a set, e.g., one, two, three. (See Wikipedia article on Cardinal number.)
   • 1920, Bertrand Russell, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, p.83:

     This cardinal number is the smallest of the infinite cardinal numbers; it is the one to which Cantor has appropriated the Hebrew aleph with the suffix 0, to distinguish it from larger infinite cardinals. Thus the name of the smallest of infinite cardinals is ₀א.

2. (grammar) A word used to represent a cardinal number; a cardinal numeral.
   • 2005, Frederic M. Wheelock, Wheelock's Latin, 6th ed. revised, p.97:

     The commonest numerals in Latin, as in English, are the "cardinals" […] and the "ordinals" […].

3. An official in the Catholic Church, ranking only below the Pope and the patriarchs. (See Wikipedia article on Catholic cardinals.)
   • 1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 16, in Friday's Business:

     His uncle, a Cardinal, engages a Spanish youth of Moorish descent called Diego, an expert singer and player on the virginal, to unlock the secrets of the heart, […] and cure him by the spell of his music.

4. Any of a genus of songbirds of the finch family, Cardinalis.
5. Any of various related passerine birds of the family Cardinalidae (See Wikipedia article on cardinals) and other similar birds that were once considered to be related.
   • 1907, Robert William Chambers, chapter V, in The Younger Set (Project Gutenberg; EBook #14852), New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, published 1 February 2005 (Project Gutenberg version), OCLC 24962326:

     Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

6. A shade of scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock.

   cardinal colour:  

7. (historical) A woman's short cloak with a hood.
   • Robert Lloyd (1733-1764)

     Where's your cardinal! Make haste.

8. (obsolete) Mulled red wine.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Hotten to this entry?)

9. A freshwater fish, the cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi).

See also

• (reds) red; blood red, brick red, burgundy, cardinal, carmine, carnation, cerise, cherry, cherry red, Chinese red, cinnabar, claret, crimson, damask, fire brick, fire engine red, flame, flamingo, fuchsia, garnet, geranium, gules, hot pink, incarnadine, Indian red, magenta, maroon, misty rose, nacarat, oxblood, pillar-box red, pink, Pompeian red, poppy, raspberry, red violet, rose, rouge, ruby, ruddy, salmon, sanguine, scarlet, shocking pink, stammel, strawberry, Turkey red, Venetian red, vermillion, vinaceous, vinous, violet red, wine
• Contrast with ordinal (numbers)
• Card. (abbreviation)

Anagrams

• Clarinda

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cardinālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kaʁ.di.nal/

Adjective

cardinal (feminine singular cardinale, masculine plural cardinaux, feminine plural cardinales)

1. Important; paramount.
2. (mathematics) cardinal.

Noun

cardinal m (plural cardinaux)

1. (religion) cardinal.
2. Cardinal number.
3. Cardinal (bird).

Noun

cardinal m (plural cardinal)

1. cardinal (color).

Further reading

• “cardinal” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Noun

cardinal m (invariable)

1. Apocopic form of cardinale

Anagrams

• calandri

Noun

cardinal m (plural cardinauls)

1. (Christianity) cardinal.

Adjective

cardinal m, f (plural cardinais, comparable)

1. cardinal (describing a number that indicates quantity)

Noun

cardinal m (plural cardinais)

1. cardinal (number indicating quantity)
2. (typography) hash (the # symbol)

Etymology

Borrowed from French cardinal, Latin cardinālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kar.diˈnal/

Adjective

cardinal m, n (feminine singular cardinală, masculine plural cardinali, feminine and neuter plural cardinale)

1. principal, essential, fundamental

Noun

cardinal m (plural cardinali)

1. (religion) cardinal
2. cardinal (bird)
3. a variety of grape, cultivated for consumption

References

• cardinal in DEX online - Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language), 2004-2018

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cardinālis, cardināli.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kardiˈnal/, [karðiˈnal]

Adjective

cardinal (plural cardinales)

1. cardinal (crucial, pivotal)

   Synonym: fundamental

2. cardinal (describing a number used to indicate quantity)

   Antonym: ordinal

Further reading

• “cardinal” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.