Dictionary
Find
in
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Translations

Click to move up the list of words
cardiac tamponade
cardialgia
cardie
Cardiff
cardigan
Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Welsh corgi
Cardiganshire
cardinal
cardinal flower
cardinal number
cardinal point
cardinal virtue
cardinal vowel
cardinalate
cardinalship
cardio-
Click to move down the list of words
Print Preview
See pronunciation key
Search for "cardinal" in all of MSN Encarta
E-mail this entry
Blog about this entry on MSN Spaces
Download the MSN Encarta Right-Click Dictionary

cardinal

car·di·nal [ krd'nəl ]


noun  (plural car·di·nals)
Definition:
 
1. christianity Roman Catholic dignitary: in the Roman Catholic Church, one of the group of clergy, next in rank to the pope, who elect the pope from their own number and act as his advisers

2. colors deep red: a deep strong red color, like that of the robes of a cardinal

3. birds bright red bird: a crested finch, the male of which has bright red plumage with a black face. Native to: North America.  Latin name Cardinalis cardinalis.

4. mathematics 
Same as  cardinal number


5. dress woman's hooded cape: a woman's short cape with a hood, originally scarlet in color, that was worn in the 17th and 18th centuries



adjective 
Definition:
 
1. important: fundamentally important

2. colors bright red: of a deep strong red color

[12th century. Via French< Latin cardinalis< cardin- "hinge"]

car·di·nal·ly adverb
Advertisement

Also on Encarta
Englishtown: Learn English online
Our Partners
Also on MSN
Encarta Message Boards (© Rubberball/Jupiterimages)
Shopping
© 2009 Microsoft