cardinal

English

/ˈkɑː.dɪ.nəl/, /ˈkɑɹdɪnəl/

adj
Definitions
  • Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.
  • (nautical) Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).
  • 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).

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French cardinal derived from Latin cardinālis (a hinge, principal, cardinal, chief, hence applied to that on which something turns depends, important).

Origin

Latin

cardinālis

Gloss

a hinge, principal, cardinal, chief, hence applied to that on which something turns depends, important

Concept
Semantic Field

Social and political relations

Ontological Category

Person/Thing

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms