cardinal

Syllables: car·din·alUK/ˈkɑːd(ɪ)nəl/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Australia/ˈkɑːd(ɪ)nəl/

cardinal adjective: of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal. Also the ellipsis of cardinal number.

Image: Piotr Drabik, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Adjective

cardinal (comparative more cardinal, superlative most cardinal)

Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.
- a cardinal rule
- But cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, I fear ye.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).
- a cardinal mark
Describing a “natural” number used to indicate quantity (e.g., zero, one, two, three), as opposed to an ordinal number indicating relative position.
Having a bright red color (from the color of a Catholic cardinal’s cassock).
Being one of the signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, associated with initiation, creation, and force.

Noun (1)

cardinal (countable and uncountable, plural cardinals)

One of the officials appointed by the pope in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking only below the pope, equal to the patriarchs, constituting the special college which elects the pope.
- His uncle, a Cardinal, engages a Spanish youth of Moorish descent called Diego, an expert singer and player on the virginal, to unlock the secrets of the heart,[…]and cure him by the spell of his music.1932, Maurice Baring, chapter 16, in Friday's Business
- Francis riled conservative cardinals with his compassion for migrants and refugees, openness towards LGBTQ+ Catholics and demands for action on the climate crisis.
  Among the frontrunners before the conclave began were Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state; Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer...2025 May 8, Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood, “White smoke from Sistine Chapel chimney signals election of new pope”, in The Guardian
Any of various species of New-World passerine songbird in the genus Cardinalis, or in the family Cardinalidae more generally, or of similar appearance and once considered to be related to the former; so called because of their red plumage. (See Wikipedia article for taxonomical information.)
- Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like...1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Afterglow”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 168
Synonyms:

cardinalid
A deep red color, somewhat less vivid than scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock. (same as cardinal red)
- Dark navy-blue, cardinal, golden-brown, old blue, olive, slate-gray, and telegraph-blue are the favorite solid colors seen in heavy beaver cloths […]1889, Demorests' Monthly Magazine, volume 25, page 65
- The cardinal red and silver grey colors were worn with great enthusiasm. In the spring-time, when the entire student body bought their new straw hats, the bands were of cardinal and grey ribbon.1914, ἄν ἀνἁβιλε [án anhabile], “Under the Cardinal Red and Silver Grey”, in Corks and Curls, volume 27, University of Virginia, page 28
(historical) A woman's short cloak with a hood, originally made of scarlet cloth.
- […]; and whilst she was looking over several pieces of each, she took an opportunity of concealing under her cardinal a piece of cotton, and several handkerchiefs, with which she went off undiscovered;[…].1763 August 9, The London Chronicle For the Year 1763, volume 14, page 130, column 2
- She has valuables of mine; besides, my cardinal and veil are in her room.1775, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Duenna, I.3
(obsolete) Mulled red wine.
- He goes up, and finds the remains of the supper, Tankards full of egg-flip and cardinal, and a party playing at vingt-un.1861, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford
- A Recipe to make Cardinal, which I attribute to the German governess, raises a problem.1951, Herbert Warner Allen, A Contemplation of Wine, page 116

Noun (2) capitalized: Cardinal

Cardinal (plural Cardinals)

A player on the St. Louis Cardinals team.
- Smith became a Cardinal as the result of a pre-season trade.
A player on the Arizona Cardinals team.
A student or player on a sports team at the University of Louisville.

Noun (3) capitalized: Cardinal

Cardinal (plural Cardinals)

A player on a sports team at Stanford University.

Proper noun capitalized: Cardinal

Cardinal

A surname from French common among French Canadians as well as Cree and Métis indigenous peoples in Canada.

Also used as

cardinal is also the ellipsis of cardinal number.

cardinal is also the ellipsis of cardinal numeral.

cardinal is also the ellipsis of cardinal flower.

cardinal is also the ellipsis of cardinal tetra.

cardinal meaning in Tagalog, Arabic, Persian and Vietnamese

cardinal in Tagalog

describing a number that indicates quantity: paulat
official of the Catholic Church: kardenal

cardinal in Arabic

official of the Catholic Church: كارْدِينال kārdīnāl, كَرْدِينَال kardīnāl
bird of the genus Cardinalis or family Cardinalidae: كَرْدِينَال kardīnāl
number indicating quantity: كَرْدِينَال kardīnāl

cardinal in Persian

of fundamental importance: کاردینال, عدداصلی, اعداد اصلی, اصلی, اساسی
official of the Catholic Church: کاردینال kârdinâl

cardinal in Vietnamese

of fundamental importance: chính, chủ yếu, cốt yếu
describing a number that indicates quantity: lượng
official of the Catholic Church: hồng y, đức hồng y
number indicating quantity: số lượng

Examples of cardinal in a sentence

the cardinal intersections of the zodiack1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […]...
I have made no objection to their wearing the cardinal, though it be a habit of popish etymology, and was, I am afraid, first invented to hide the sluttishness of French dishabille.1823, Lionel Thomas Berguer, World, page 115:
Closely drawing her cardinal round her, she descended into the park, at whose extremity was the little chapel where she intended to make her offering.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry...

All 40 example sentences with cardinal

Synonyms of cardinal

cardinalid

Forms of cardinal

Adjective
comparative	more cardinal
superlative	most cardinal
Noun
plural	cardinals
plural	Cardinals

Plural of cardinal: cardinals

Origin of cardinal

From Middle French cardinal, from Latin cardinālis (“pertaining to a hinge, hence applied to that on which something turns or depends, important, principal, chief”), from cardin-, cardō (“hinge”) + -ālis, adjectival suffix.

Capitalization of cardinal (bird).

Capitalization of cardinal (color).

Words formed from cardinal

Phrases with cardinal

12 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about cardinal

What does cardinal mean?: Cardinal means of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.
What is cardinal in Tagalog?: Cardinal in Tagalog is paulat, kardenal. See Cardinal meaning in Tagalog.
How do you use cardinal in a sentence?: the cardinal intersections of the zodiack
What part of speech is cardinal?: Cardinal can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce cardinal?: Cardinal is pronounced /ˈkɑːd(ɪ)nəl/ (UK).

Words near cardinal in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: cardinal (page history and authors); Cardinal (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-cardinal.ogg, en-us-cardinal.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cardinal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cardinal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.