pseudocardinal

Noun

pseudocardinal (plural pseudocardinals)

1. (historical) A cardinal appointed by an antipope and consequently seen as illegitimate by the pope and those who recognize him.
   • Other writers […] conclude that[…] Gregory remained long enough not only to be reinstated at the Lateran palace, but also to reform certain flagrant abuses, and order the expulsion of pseudo-cardinals nominated by the Antipope.1869, Charles Isidore Hemans, A History of Mediaeval Christianity and Sacred Art in Italy: A.D. 900-1350, page 119
   • It owes its origin to the schism which Alexander V. attempted to heal in 1409 by forming one body of his own (the legitimate) and of the pseudocardinals of the anti-pope Benedict XIII.1875, Catholic World, page 365

   Synonyms:

   anticardinal

2. A type of tooth found on the shells of some bivalve molluscs.
   • Right valve with three pseudocardinal teeth, the front one being strongest, high and triangular, the second low and longer, the posterior one indistinctly differentiated from the hinge plate.1922, WB Marshall, “New pearly fresh water mussels from South America”, in Proceedings of the US National Museum, volume 61, number 2437
   • True clams are said to have "cardinal" teeth, so named because of their proximity to the heart (the Greek kardia means "heart"); freshwater mussel pseudocardinals are not so positioned.1997, SM Martin, “Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionoida) of Maine”, in Northeastern Naturalist