Cardinal
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: /ˈkÉ‘Ë.dɪ.nÉ™l/
- US: IPA: /ˈkɑɹdɪnəl/
Origin
From French cardinal, from Latin cardinÄlis ("pertaining to a hinge, hence applied to that on which something turns or depends, important, principal, chief"), from cardÅ ("hinge") + -Älis, adjectival suffix.
Full definition of cardinal
Adjective
cardinal
- Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.a cardinal rule
- ShakespeareBut cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, I fear ye.
- Sir Thomas Brownethe cardinal intersections of the zodiac
- DraytonImpudence is now a cardinal virtue.
- (nautical) Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).a cardinal mark
- Describing a "natural" number used to indicate quantity (e.g., one, two, three), as opposed to an ordinal number indicating relative position.
- Having a bright red color (from the color of a Catholic cardinal's cassock).
Noun
cardinal
(plural cardinals)- A number indicating quantity, or the size of a set, e.g., one, two, three. (See w, Cardinal_number, Wikipedia article on Cardinal number.)
- 1920, Bertrand Russell, Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy, page 83This 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 0×.
- (grammar) A word used to represent a cardinal number; a cardinal numeral.
- 2005, F. M. Wheelock, Wheelock’s Latin, 6th ed. revised, page 97The commonest numerals in Latin, as in English, are the "cardinals"...and the "ordinals"...''
- An official in the Catholicism, ranking only below the and the patriarchs. (See .)
- 1932, w, Friday's Business Chapter 16, 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.
- A songbird of the finch family,
- Any of various related passerine birds of the family Cardinalidae. (See Cardinal_(bird).)
- 1907, w, The Younger Set Chapter 5, Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume ; … ; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
- A shade of scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock.
- A woman's short cloak with a hood.
- LloydWhere's your cardinal! Make haste.
- Mulled red wine.