cardinal
IPA: kˈɑrdʌnʌɫ
noun
- (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. (See Wikipedia article on Catholic cardinals.)
- Any of a genus of songbirds of the finch family, Cardinalis.
- 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.
- (color) A deep red color, somewhat less vivid than scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock. (same as cardinal red)
- (now historical) A woman's short cloak with a hood, originally made of scarlet cloth.
- (obsolete) Mulled red wine.
- (baseball) A player on the St. Louis Cardinals team.
- (American football) A player on the Arizona Cardinals team.
- A student or player on a sports team at the University of Louisville.
- A player on a sports team at Stanford University.
- A surname from French common among French Canadians as well as Cree and Métis indigenous peoples in Canada.
- (mathematics) Short for cardinal number, a number indicating quantity, or the size of a set (e.g., 0, 1, 2, 3). (See Cardinal_number.) [A number used to denote quantity; a counting number; a cardinal.]
- (grammar) Short for cardinal numeral, a word used to represent a cardinal number. [(grammar) A word used to represent a cardinal number.]
- Short for cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), a flowering plant. [Lobelia cardinalis (syn. L. fulgens), a species of lobelia native to the Americas, usually with vibrant red flowers.]
- Short for cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi), a freshwater fish. [A freshwater fish (Paracheirodon axelrodi, family Characidae), native to rivers in South America, popular as an aquarium fish.]
adjective
- Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.
- (nautical) Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).
- Describing a "natural" number used to indicate quantity (e.g., zero, 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).
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Examples of "cardinal" in Sentences
- (Land's ed. of the Opera, The Hague, 1891-93) is a study of what he termed the cardinal virtues.
- Within a few months of attaining the title of Pope Sixtus IV, he bestowed the title of cardinal upon six of his nephews.
- But many Catholics in the developing world are disappointed an African or a Latin American cardinal did not become pope.
- I mean, imagine what would happen if certain cardinal numbers were to be regarded as not consistent with Christian belief.
- The former cardinal is now very happy to have been promoted to such a high position, knowing he will now be remembered forever.
- Those who recite the Divine Office find constantly recurring what seems to be the earliest instance of the word cardinal as applied to the virtues.
- By the term cardinal (Cardinalis) was originally understood every priest permanently attached to a church, every clericus, either intitulatus or incardinatus.
- The Fhilofopheny in their diftribution of virtues have generally agreed upon four J which they call cardinal, becaufc all the reii: do turn upon them as upon their hinges.
- It was only natural, therefore, that in the end the name cardinal, which until late in the Middle Ages was borne by the principal ecclesiastics of the more important churches, should be reserved for the Roman cardinals.
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