Meaning

5 senses

  1. Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.

    a cardinal rule

    grundsätzlich

    гла́вныйglávnyj, основно́йosnovnój, кардина́льныйkardinálʹnyj

  2. Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).

    a cardinal mark

  3. Describing a “natural” number used to indicate quantity (e.g., zero, one, two, three), as opposed to an ordinal number indicating relative position.

    grundsätzlich

    коли́чественныйkolíčestvennyj

  4. Having a bright red color (from the color of a Catholic cardinal’s cassock).

    kardinalrot

  5. Being one of the signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, associated with initiation, creation, and force.

More definitions
  • serving as an essential component
  • being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order

Examples

33 sentences

  1. That's a cardinal rule of marriage.

    Amastan · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. I want to become a cardinal.

    Miktsoanit · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. I want to find the cardinal.

    Miktsoanit · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. We want to find the cardinal.

    Miktsoanit · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. The cardinals have elected a new pope.

    ruКардиналы выбрали нового Папу. — Selena777

    deDie Kardinäle haben einen neuen Papst gewählt. — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    Hybrid · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Translations

8 languages
Русский
By meaning 2
of fundamental importance:
describing a number that indicates quantity:
Deutsch
By meaning 2
of fundamental importance:
having a bright red color:

Origin

From Middle French cardinal, from Latin cardinālis (“pertaining to a hinge, hence applied

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.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

more cardinal, most cardinal
Comparativemore cardinal Lesson
Superlativemost cardinal Lesson

regular

Synonyms

4 synonyms
Close in meaning

Antonyms

1 antonyms
ordinal

Lessons for this word

2 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
cardboardB2cardiaccardiganB2cardiocardiologistcardiopulmonary

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

cardinal — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto