car·di·nal (kär dn- l, kärd n l)adj.1. Of foremost importance; paramount: a cardinal rule; cardinal sins. 2. Dark to deep or vivid red. n.1. Abbr. Card. Roman Catholic Church A high church official, ranking just below the pope, who has been appointed by a pope to membership in the College of Cardinals. 2. A dark to deep or vivid red. 3. A North American finch (Cardinalis cardinalis) having a crested head, a short thick bill, and bright red plumage in the male. 4. A short hooded cloak, originally of scarlet cloth, worn by women in the 18th century. 5. A cardinal number.
[Middle English, from Late Latin cardin lis, principal, pivotal, from Latin, serving as a hinge, from card , cardin-, hinge.]
car di·nal·ship n. | cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis |
cardinal Noun any of the high-ranking clergymen of the Roman Catholic Church who elect the pope and act as his chief counsellors Adjective fundamentally important; principal [Latin cardo hinge]
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. | cardinal - (Roman Catholic Church) one of a group of more than 100 prominent bishops in the Sacred College who advise the Pope and elect new Popesbishop - a senior member of the Christian clergy having spiritual and administrative authority; appointed in Christian churches to oversee priests or ministers; considered in some churches to be successors of the twelve Apostles of Christ dean - (Roman Catholic Church) the head of the College of Cardinals | | 2. | cardinal - the number of elements in a mathematical set; denotes a quantity but not the ordernumber - a concept of quantity involving zero and units; "every number has a unique position in the sequence" googol - a cardinal number represented as 1 followed by 100 zeros (ten raised to the power of a hundred) googolplex - a cardinal number represented as 1 followed by a googol of zeros (ten raised to the power of a googol) | | 3. | cardinal - a variable color averaging a vivid redred, redness - red color or pigment; the chromatic color resembling the hue of blood | | 4. | cardinal - crested thick-billed North American finch having bright red plumage in the malefinch - any of numerous small songbirds with short stout bills adapted for crushing seeds | | Adj. | 1. | cardinal - serving as an essential component; "a cardinal rule"; "the central cause of the problem"; "an example that was fundamental to the argument"; "computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure"important, of import - of great significance or value; "important people"; "the important questions of the day" | | 2. | cardinal - being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order; "cardinal numbers"ordinal - being or denoting a numerical order in a series; "ordinal numbers"; "held an ordinal rank of seventh" |
cardinal adjective principal, first, highest, greatest, leading, important, chief, main, prime, central, key, essential, primary, fundamental, paramount, foremost, pre-eminent << OPPOSITE secondary
Translations cardinal [ˈkɑːdɪnl] adj → cardinal
cardinal [ˈkɑːdɪnl] adj → cardinal(e); [ importance] → capital(e)
cardinal [ˈkɑːdɪnl] adj ( principle, importance) → Haupt-
cardinal [ˈkɑːdɪnl] adj, n → cardinale (m)
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