cardinal

car·di·nal  (kärdn-l, kärdnl) 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 cardinlis, principal, pivotal, from Latin, serving as a hinge, from card, cardin-, hinge.] cardi·nal·ship n.

cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis

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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]

Thesaurus

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 Popes Church of Rome, Roman Catholic Church, Roman Church, Western Church, Roman Catholic - the Christian Church based in the Vatican and presided over by a pope and an episcopal hierarchy College of Cardinals, Sacred College - (Roman Catholic Church) the body of cardinals who advise the Pope and elect new Popes bishop - 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 order cardinal number number - a concept of quantity involving zero and units; "every number has a unique position in the sequence" absolute frequency, frequency - the number of observations in a given statistical category 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 red carmine red, 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 male cardinal grosbeak, Cardinalis cardinalis, Richmondena Cardinalis, redbird finch - any of numerous small songbirds with short stout bills adapted for crushing seeds genus Richmondena, Richmondena - cardinals
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" central, fundamental, key, primal 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"

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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

n → cardenal m

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cardinal [ˈkɑːdɪnl] adj → cardinal(e); [importance] → capital(e)

n → cardinal m

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cardinal [ˈkɑːdɪnl] adj (principle, importance) → Haupt-

n → Kardinal m;

cardinal number → Kardinalzahl f;

cardinal sin → Todsünde f

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cardinal [ˈkɑːdɪnl] adj, n → cardinale (m)