Word: cardinal Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Latin cardō Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin cardinālisder. Middle French cardinalbor. English 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. Pronunciation: /ˈkɑːd(ɪ)nəl/, [ˈkʰɑːd(ɪ)nəl] ~ [ˈkʰɑːd(ɪ)nl̩], /ˈkɑɹd(ɪ)nəl/, [ˈkʰɑɹd(ɪ)nəl] ~ [ˈkʰɑɹd(ɪ)nl̩] 1. 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. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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. Example: 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 from the Philippines; Péter Erdő, a traditionalist from Hungary; Robert Sarah, a cardinal from Guinea who criticised Francis’s papacy; and the moderate US cardinal Robert Prevost. 2. 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.) Labels: countable, uncountable Example: 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 scarlet flames athwart the pines. 3. A deep red color, somewhat less vivid than scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock. (same as cardinal red) Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Dark navy-blue, cardinal, golden-brown, old blue, olive, slate-gray, and telegraph-blue are the favorite solid colors seen in heavy beaver cloths […] Example: 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. 4. Ellipsis of cardinal number, a number indicating quantity, or the size of a set (e.g., 0, 1, 2, 3). (See Cardinal_number.) Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Example: This cardinal number is the smallest of the infinite cardinal numbers; it is the one to which Cantor has appropriated the Hebrew aleph with the suffix 0, to distinguish it from larger infinite cardinals. Thus the name of the smallest of infinite cardinals is ₀א. 5. Ellipsis of cardinal numeral, a word used to represent a cardinal number. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Example: The commonest numerals in Latin, as in English, are the "cardinals" […] and the "ordinals" […]. 6. Ellipsis of cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), a flowering plant. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Example: The sweet-briar rose with perfume good, / And the violet grows in the Milton wood, / The cardinal red—a queen is she, / But the sweetest flower is Mary Lee. 7. Ellipsis of cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi), a freshwater fish. Labels: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable 8. A woman's short cloak with a hood, originally made of scarlet cloth. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable Example: […]; 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;[…]. Example: She has valuables of mine; besides, my cardinal and veil are in her room. 9. Mulled red wine. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: He goes up, and finds the remains of the supper, Tankards full of egg-flip and cardinal, and a party playing at vingt-un. Example: A Recipe to make Cardinal, which I attribute to the German governess, raises a problem.