cardinal
UK /ˈkɑːd(ɪ)nəl/ · US /ˈkɑɹd(ɪ)nəl/ adjective, noun, proper noun
Forms cardinals
- adjective Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal. “a cardinal rule”
- adjective (nautical) Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west). “a cardinal mark”
- adjective Describing a “natural” number used to indicate quantity (e.g., zero, one, two, three), as opposed to an ordinal number indicating relative position.
- adjective Having a bright red color (from the color of a Catholic cardinal’s cassock).
- adjective (astrology) Being one of the signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, associated with initiation, creation, and force.
- noun (Roman Catholicism) One of the officials appointed by the pope in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking only below the pope, equal to the patriarchs, constituting the special college which elects the pope.
- noun Any of various species of New-World passerine songbird in the genus Cardinalis, or in the family Cardinalidae more generally, or of similar appearance and once considered to be related to the former; so called because of their red plumage. (See Wikipedia article for taxonomical information.)
- noun A deep red color, somewhat less vivid than scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock. (same as cardinal red)
- noun (now historical) A woman's short cloak with a hood, originally made of scarlet cloth.
- noun (obsolete) Mulled red wine.
- noun (baseball) A player on the St. Louis Cardinals team. “Smith became a Cardinal as the result of a pre-season trade.”
- noun (American football) A player on the Arizona Cardinals team.
- noun A student or player on a sports team at the University of Louisville.
- noun A player on a sports team at Stanford University.
- proper noun A surname from French common among French Canadians as well as Cree and Métis indigenous peoples in Canada.
Synonyms
cardinalid cardinal number carmine cardinal grosbeak Richmondena Cardinalis Cardinalis cardinalis redbird central fundamental key primal
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle French cardinal, from Latin cardinālis (“pertaining to a hinge, hence applied to that on which something turns or depends, important, principal, chief”), from cardin-, cardō (“hinge”) + -ālis, adjectival suffix.
Capitalization of cardinal (bird).
Capitalization of cardinal (color).
From Canadian French Cardinal, from French cardinal, from Latin cardinālis.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Of fundamental importance; preëminet; superior; chief; principal.
- noun 1. (R.C.Ch.) One of the ecclesiastical prince who constitute the pope's council, or the sacred college.
- noun A woman's short cloak with a hood.
Etymology [L. cardinalis, fr. cardo the hing of a door, that on which a thing turns or depends: cf. F. cardinal.]
Etymology [F. carinal, It. cardinale, LL. cardimalis (ecclesiæ Romanæ). See Cardinal, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cardinal”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details