[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

cardinal \car"dinal\, n. f. carinal, it. cardinale, ll.
   cardinalis ecclesiae romanae. see cardinal, a.
   1. r. c. ch. one of the ecclesiastical princes who
      constitute the pope's council, or the sacred college.
      1913 webster

            the clerics of the supreme chair are called
            cardinals, as undoubtedly adhering more nearly to
            the hinge by which all things are moved. --pope leo
                                                  ix.
      1913 webster

   note: the cardinals are appointed by the pope. since the time
         of sixtus v., their number can never exceed seventy
         six of episcopal rank, fifty priests, fourteen
         deacons, and the number of cardinal priests and
         deacons is seldom full. when the papel chair is vacant
         a pope is elected by the college of cardinals from
         among themselves. the cardinals take precedence of all
         dignitaries except the pope. the principal parts of a
         cardinal's costume are a red cassock, a rochet, a short
         purple mantle, and a red hat with a small crown and
         broad brim, with cords and tessels of a special pattern
         hanging from it.
         1913 webster

   2. a woman's short cloak with a hood.
      1913 webster

            where's your cardinal make haste.    --lloyd.
      1913 webster

   3. mulled red wine. --hotten.
      1913 webster

   4. the cardinal bird, also called the northern cardinal.
      pjc

   cardinal bird, or cardinal grosbeak zool., an american
      song bird cardinalis cardinalis, or cardinalis
      virginianus, of the family fringillidae, or finches
      of which the male has a bright red plumage, and both sexes
      have a high, pointed crest on its head; -- it is also
      called the northern cardinal or eastern cardinal. the
      males have loud and musical notes resembling those of a
      fife. other related species are also called cardinal
      birds.

   cardinal flower bot., an herbaceous plant lobelia
      cardinalis bearing brilliant red flowers of much beauty.
      

   cardinal red, a color like that of a cardinal's cassock,
      hat, etc.; a bright red, darker than scarlet, and between
      scarlet and crimson.
      1913 webster
see also:
cardinal cardinal bird northern cardinal cardinal bird cardinal grosbeak cardinalis cardinalis 
cardinalis virginianus fringillidae eastern cardinal cardinal flower lobelia cardinalis 
cardinal red 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

cardinal \car"dinal\, a. l. cardinalis, fr. cardo the hinge of
   a door, that on which a thing turns or depends: cf. f.
   cardinal.
   of fundamental importance; pre"eminent; superior; chief;
   principal.
   1913 webster

         the cardinal intersections of the zodiac. --sir t.
                                                  browne.
   1913 webster

         impudence is now a cardinal virtue.      --drayton.
   1913 webster

         but cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, i fear ye.
                                                  --shak.
   1913 webster

   cardinal numbers, the numbers one, two, three, etc., in
      distinction from first, second, third, etc., which are
      called ordinal numbers.

   cardinal points
   a geol. the four principal points of the compass, or
       intersections of the horizon with the meridian and the
       prime vertical circle, north, south east, and west.
   b astrol. the rising and setting of the sun, the zenith
       and nadir.

   cardinal signs astron. aries, libra, cancer, and
      capricorn.

   cardinal teeth zool., the central teeth of bivalve shell.
      see bivalve.

   cardinal veins anat., the veins in vertebrate embryos,
      which run each side of the vertebral column and returm the
      blood to the heart. they remain through life in some
      fishes.

   cardinal virtues, pre"eminent virtues; among the
      ancients, prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude.

   cardinal winds, winds which blow from the cardinal points
      due north, south, east, or west.
      1913 webster
see also:
cardinal numbers ordinal numbers cardinal points cardinal signs cardinal teeth bivalve 
cardinal veins cardinal virtues cardinal winds 

[3] : WordNet (r) 2.0

cardinal
     adj 1: serving as an essential component; "a cardinal rule"; "the
            central cause of the problem"; "an example that was
            fundamental to the argument"; "computers are
            fundamental to modern industrial structure" syn: central,
             fundamental, key, primal
     2: being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order;
        "cardinal numbers" ant: ordinal
     n 1: roman catholic church one of a group of more than 100
          prominent bishops in the sacred college who advise the
          pope and elect new popes
     2: the number of elements in a mathematical set; denotes a
        quantity but not the order syn: cardinal number
     3: a variable color averaging a vivid red syn: carmine
     4: crested thick-billed north american finch having bright red
        plumage in the male syn: cardinal grosbeak, richmondena
        cardinalis, cardinalis cardinalis, redbird
see also:
central fundamental key primal ordinal cardinal number 
carmine cardinal grosbeak richmondena cardinalis cardinalis cardinalis redbird 

[4] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

213 moby thesaurus words for "cardinal":
   gaussian integer, grand penitentiary, holy father, titian,
   titian-red, abuna, algebraic number, algorismic, algorithmic,
   aliquot, all-absorbing, antipope, arch, archbishop, archdeacon,
   archpriest, banner, bishop, bishop coadjutor, bricky, canon,
   capital, cardinal bishop, cardinal deacon, cardinal number,
   cardinal priest, carmine, carnation, carnelian, central, cerise,
   champion, chaplain, cherry, cherry-colored, cherry-red, chief,
   coadjutor, complex number, constitutive, controlling, crimson,
   crowning, curate, damask, dean, decimal, defective number,
   differential, digital, diocesan, dominant, ecclesiarch, essential,
   even, even number, exarch, exponential, ferruginous, fiery,
   figural, figurate, figurative, finite, finite number, fire-red,
   first, flame-colored, flame-red, flaming, focal, foremost,
   fraction, fractional, fundamental, glowing, great, gules, headmost,
   hegemonic, hierarch, high priest, highest, hot, imaginary,
   imaginary number, impair, important, impossible, incarmined,
   infinite, infinity, inflamed, infrared, integer, integral,
   iron-red, irrational, irrational number, key, lake-colored, laky,
   lateritious, leading, lobster-red, logarithmic, logometric, lurid,
   magisterial, main, maroon, master, metropolitan, mixed number,
   necessary, negative, numeral, numerary, numerative, numeric, odd,
   ordinal, overriding, overruling, pair, papa, paramount, patriarch,
   penitentiary, pivotal, polygonal number, pontiff, pope, port-wine,
   positive, possible, prebendary, predominant, preeminent, prelate,
   premier, preponderant, prevailing, primal, primary, primate, prime,
   prime number, principal, puce, pure imaginary, radical, ranking,
   rational, rational number, real, real number, reciprocal,
   rectangular number, rector, red, red-dyed, red-looking, reddened,
   reddish, reddish-amber, reddish-brown, round number, rubicund,
   rubiginous, rubric, rubricose, ruby, ruby-colored, ruby-red,
   ruddied, ruddy, rufescent, rufous, ruling, rural dean, rust,
   rust-red, rusty, scarlet, serial number, sovereign, special,
   stammel, star, stellar, subdean, submultiple, suffragan,
   supereminent, supreme, surd, tile-red, topflight, topmost,
   transcendental, transcendental number, transfinite number,
   uppermost, vermilion, vicar, vinaceous, vital, warm, whole number,
   wine, wine-colored, wine-red

[5] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

cardinal, eccl. law. the title given to one of the highest dignitaries of 
the court of rome. cardinals are next to the pope in dignity; he is elected 
by them and out of their body. there are cardinal bishops, cardinal priests, 
and cardinal deacons. see fleury, hist. eccles. liv. xxxv. n. 17, ii. n. 19 
thomassin, part ii. liv. i. oh. 53, part iv. liv. i. c. 79, 80 loiseau, 
traite des ordres, c. 3, n. 31; andre, droit canon, au mot. 

Cardinal >> C Words
Cardinal, definition of term: Cardinal
cardinal_pag1.html

Cardinal Richel >> C Words
Cardinal Richel, definition of term: Cardinal Richel
cardinal+richel_pag1.html

Cardinal Virtue >> C Words
Cardinal Virtue, definition of term: Cardinal Virtue
cardinal+virtue_pag1.html

Cardinal Points >> C Words
Cardinal Points, definition of term: Cardinal Points
cardinal+points_pag1.html

Cardinal Number >> C Words
Cardinal Number, definition of term: Cardinal Number
cardinal+number_pag1.html

Cardinal Bird >> C Words
Cardinal Bird, definition of term: Cardinal Bird
cardinal+bird_pag1.html

Cardinal Number >> C Words
Cardinal Number, definition of term: Cardinal Number
cardinal+number_pag1.html