cardinally

Variant of cardinal

adjective

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

Origin: 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. Origin: 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

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

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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