cardinal Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (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
  2. noun the number of elements in a mathematical set; denotes a quantity but not the order
    cardinal number.
  3. noun a variable color averaging a vivid red
    carmine.
  4. noun crested thick-billed North American finch having bright red plumage in the male
    cardinal grosbeak; Cardinalis cardinalis; Richmondena Cardinalis; redbird.
  5. adjective satellite serving as an essential component
    central; key; fundamental; primal.
    • a cardinal rule
    • the central cause of the problem
    • an example that was fundamental to the argument
    • computers are fundamental to modern industrial structure
  6. adjective being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order
    • cardinal numbers

WordNet

Car"di*nal adjective
Etymology
L. cardinalis, fr. cardo the hing of a door, that on which a thing turns or depends: cf. F. cardinal.
Definitions
  1. Of fundamental importance; preëminet; superior; chief; principal.
    The cardinal intersections of the zodiac. Sir T. Browne.
    Impudence is now a cardinal virtue. Drayton.
    But cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, I fear ye. Shak.
Car"di*nal noun
Etymology
F. carinal, It. cardinale, LL. cardimalis (ecclesiæ Romanæ). See Cardinal, a.
Definitions
  1. 1. (R.C.Ch.) One of the ecclesiastical prince who constitute the pope's council, or the sacred college.
    The clerics of the supreme Chair are called Cardinals, as undoubtedly adhering more nearly to the hinge by which all things are moved. Pope Leo IX.
    ✍ The cardinals are appointed by the pope. Since the time of Sixtus V., their number can never exceed seventy (six of episcopal rank, fifty priests, fourteen deacons), and the number of cardinal priests and deacons is seldom full. When the papel chair is vacant a pope is elected by the college of cardinals from among themselves. The cardinals take procedence of all dignitaries except the pope. The principal parts of a cardinal's costume are a red cassock, a rochet, a short purple mantle, and a red hat with a small crown and broad, brim, with cards and tessels of a special pattern hanging from it.
  2. A woman's short cloak with a hood.
    Where's your cardinal! Make haste. Lloyd.
  3. Mulled red wine. Hotten.

Webster 1913