cardinal

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See also: Cardinal

English[edit]

WOTD – 11 June 2006
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

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 cardō (“hinge”) + -ālis, adjectival suffix.

A cardinal.
A cardinal.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɑː.dɪ.nəl/, /ˈkɑːd.nəl/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɑɹdɪnəl/, /ˈkɑɹdnəl/
    • Audio (US)
      		(file)
  • Audio (AU)
    		(file)

Adjective[edit]

cardinal (comparative more cardinal, superlative most cardinal)

  1. Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.
    a cardinal rule
    • 1613, Shakespeare, Henry VIII (play),
      But cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, I fear ye.
    • (Can we date this quote by Sir Thomas Browne and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
      the cardinal intersections of the zodiac
    • (Can we date this quote by Drayton and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
      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., zero, 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).

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun[edit]

cardinal (plural cardinals)

  1. (Roman Catholicism) One of the officials appointed by the pope in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking only below the pope and the patriarchs, constituting the special college which elects the pope.[1] (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.
  2. Any of a genus of songbirds of the finch family, Cardinalis.
  3. 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, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, 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.
  4. (color) A deep red color, somewhat less vivid than scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock. (same as cardinal red)
    cardinal colour:  
    • 1914, ἄν ἀνἁβιλε, “Under the Cardinal Red and Silver Grey”, in Corks and Curls, volume 27, University of Virginia, page 28:
      The cardinal red and silver grey colors were worn with great enthusiasm. In the spring-time, when the entire student body bought their new straw hats, the bands were of cardinal and grey ribbon.
  5. (mathematics) Short for cardinal number, a number indicating quantity, or the size of a set (e.g., zero, 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.
  6. (grammar) Short for cardinal numeral, a word used to represent a cardinal number.
  7. Short for cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), a flowering plant.
    • 1844–1857, Marion D. Sullivan (lyrics and music), “Mary Lee: A Romance of the Milton Wood” (sheet music), Boston: Oliver Ditson, page 2, verse 3:
      The sweet-briar rose with perfume good, / And the violet grows in the Milton wood, / The cardinal red—a queen is she, / But the sweetest flower is Mary Lee.
  8. Short for cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi), a freshwater fish.
  9. (historical) A woman's short cloak with a hood, originally made of scarlet cloth.
    • 1763 August 9, The London Chronicle For the Year 1763, volume 14, page 130, column 2:
      […] ; and whilst she was looking over several pieces of each, she took an opportunity of concealing under her cardinal a piece of cotton, and several handkerchiefs, with which she went off undiscovered; […].
    • (Can we date this quote by Robert Lloyd (poet) and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
      Where's your cardinal! Make haste.
  10. (obsolete) Mulled red wine.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Hotten to this entry?)

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

cardinal numeral — see cardinal numeral
mulled wine — see mulled wine
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

References[edit]

  1. ^ Press Office (17 Feb. 2014), “The College of Cardinals General Documentazion”, in The Holy See.

See also[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Adjective[edit]

cardinal (feminine cardinala, masculine plural cardinals, feminine plural cardinales)

  1. cardinal

Derived terms[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin cardinālis.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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

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

Noun[edit]

cardinal m (plural cardinaux)

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

Noun[edit]

cardinal m (plural cardinal)

  1. cardinal (color).

Further reading[edit]

Italian[edit]

Noun[edit]

cardinal m (invariable)

  1. Apocopic form of cardinale

Anagrams[edit]

Middle French[edit]

Noun[edit]

cardinal m (plural cardinauls)

  1. (Christianity) cardinal.

Portuguese[edit]

Adjective[edit]

cardinal m or f (plural cardinais, comparable)

  1. cardinal (describing a number that indicates quantity)

Synonyms[edit]

Noun[edit]

cardinal m (plural cardinais)

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

Synonyms[edit]

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from French cardinal, Latin cardinālis.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

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

  1. principal, essential, fundamental

Declension[edit]

Declension of cardinal
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite cardinal cardinală cardinali cardinale
definite cardinalul cardinala cardinalii cardinalele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite cardinal cardinale cardinali cardinale
definite cardinalului cardinalei cardinalilor cardinalelor

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Noun[edit]

cardinal m (plural cardinali)

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

Declension[edit]

Declension of cardinal
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) cardinal cardinalul (niște) cardinali cardinalii
genitive/dative (unui) cardinal cardinalului (unor) cardinali cardinalilor
vocative cardinalule cardinalilor

Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Latin cardinālis, cardināli.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /kardiˈnal/, [karðiˈnal]
  • Rhymes: -al

Adjective[edit]

cardinal (plural cardinales)

  1. cardinal (crucial, pivotal)
    Synonym: fundamental
  2. cardinal (describing a number used to indicate quantity)
    Antonym: ordinal

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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