cardinal Hear it!

cardinal Definition

car·di·nal (kärd′'n əl)

adjective

  1. of main importance; principal; chief
  2. bright-red, like the robe of a cardinal

Etymology: ME < OFr < L cardinalis, principal, chief < cardo, that on which something turns or depends, orig., door hinge: see scherzo

noun

  1. one of the Roman Catholic officials appointed by the pope to his council ( College of Cardinals)
  2. bright red
  3. a woman's short cloak, originally red and usually hooded, fashionable in the 18th cent.
  4. ☆

    Etymology: so named because colored like a cardinal's robe

    any of various passerine birds (family Emberizidae); esp., a bright-red, crested American species (Cardinalis cardinalis) with a red bill
  5. cardinal number

Etymology: ME < LL(Ec) cardinalis, chief presbyter, cardinal < the L adj.

Related Forms:

cardinal Usage Examples

Possessives

  • hat: Wolsey's arms on Anne Boleyn's Gateway, supported by cherubs and topped by his cardinal's hat.
  • palace: This was an instruction book for cardinals, which included advice on how to design the ideal cardinal's palace.

Converse of object

  • say: Increase the brightness says the cardinal from another page but nobody does.
  • create: He was created cardinal by Pope John Paul II at a ceremony ( consistory ) in Rome last Wednesday, 21 February.
  • make: I guess I was not good enough, so now I will be made a cardinal.
  • have: I have this cardinal in the forge already; Now I ' ll bring him to th ' hammer.
  • appoint: In 1536, he appointed nine cardinals to investigate the state of the church.
  • become: He went to Rome, became a cardinal, and was involved in a conspiracy to limit the power of the Pope.

Adjective modifier

  • American: John Paul's response was to reward an American cardinal who had assiduously covered up the outrage with a plush posting in Rome.
  • new: The service ends with prayers for the new cardinals.
  • first: Ghana's first cardinal seems shocked by the speed of his ascent.
  • measurable: The existence of a measurable cardinal also implies some slightly startling things about sets of integers in the constructible universe.
  • infinite: He also considered a list of infinite cardinals: where each is the smallest cardinal which is strictly greater than.

Modifies a noun

  • tetra: Cardinal Tetra 03/01/06 No 10 + healthy cardinal tetras wanted in Harrow, Ruislip area.
  • sin: However on 52 minutes City committed the cardinal sin of not playing to the whistle.
  • virtue: Lucia's eyes signify the cardinal virtues, by whose light the Poets can climb the Mount.
  • vowel: There Peter acquired such arcane arts as the proper pronunciation of Daniel Jones's cardinal vowels.
  • beetle: The cardinal beetle is just one of over 48 species of beetle known to live on this site.

Preposition: in

  • nature: Note that these scales are not cardinal in nature.
cardinal Quotes

It is unbecoming for a cardinal to ski badly.

—PopeJohn Paul II originally Karol Jozef Wojtyla