▪ I. cardinal, a.
(ˈkɑːdɪnəl)
Forms: 4 cardinale, 5 -enale, 5–6 -ynall, 6–7 -inall, 4 -inal.
[a. F. cardinal, ad. L. cardināl-is pertaining to a hinge, principal, chief, f. cardo, cardin-em hinge.
The specific applications in Eng. (found also in other mod. European langs.) follow those of the Latin word (classical or post-classical). The analogy of cardinal winds (L. venti cardinales), whence cardinal points, etc., led to a certain association of the adj. with the number four, as in cardinal virtues, cardinal humours.]
I. From fig. uses of the Latin adj.
1. a. gen. On which something else hinges or depends, fundamental; chief, principal, of special importance. (Almost always of abstract things.)
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 62 Cardenale, cardinalis. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. 36 b, For the cardinall iudgement against it. a 1639 W. Whately Prototypes i. xi. (1640) 94 The cardinall grace, that on which all other graces move as the doore upon its hinges. 1650 R. Gell Serm. 8 Aug. 19 Ye read of..four cardinal Angels. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 629 One of the above cardinal crimes [theft, adultery, murder]. 1821 Syd. Smith Wks. (1867) I. 316 One cardinal fault which pervades the work. 1868 Gladstone Juv. Mundi i. (1870) 5 A cardinal argument for placing the date of the Poet near that of his subject. 1875 Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. xv. (ed. 5) 245 To that position three cardinal duties were attached. |
b. cardinal vowel: one of a series of vowel-sounds proposed as a standard for phonetics.
| 1922 D. Jones Outl. Eng. Phonetics (ed. 2) p. ii, By referring the vowels of all languages to a set of Cardinal Vowels, the relations between them are made clearer. 1932 Ibid. (ed. 3) vii. 28 There is only one way of making written descriptions of vowels intelligible to a large circle of foreign readers, and that is to describe the sounds with reference to a scale of ‘Cardinal Vowels’, i.e. a set of fixed vowel-sounds having known acoustic qualities and known tongue and lip positions. 1943 K. L. Pike Phonetics vii. 137 Jones's ‘cardinal vowel’ scheme is perhaps the most convenient and objective classification. |
2. a. cardinal virtues (Lat. virtutes cardinales): in scholastic philosophy, justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude, accounted the four chief ‘natural’ virtues as distinguished from the ‘theological’ virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Some modern writers include these, and speak of ‘seven’ cardinal virtues; so the ‘seven cardinal sins’.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10008 Þas er four vertus principals, Þe quilk man clepes cardinals..Þat es rightwisnes, and meth, For-sight, and strenght. 1340 Ayenb. 123 Zeue oþre uirtues huer-of þe þri byeþ yclieped godliche and þe uour byeþ y-cleped cardinals. c 1470 Hors, Shepe, & G. (1822) 5 The foure vertues callyd cardynall. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 11 The vertues cardynall, with the vertues morall. 1611 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. i. 103, I thought ye..two reuerend Cardinall Vertues, But Cardinall Sins, and hollow hearts I feare ye. 1649 Roberts Clavis Bibl. 363 The 4 chief cardinal vertues. 1852 A. Jameson Leg. Madonna (1857) 94 The seven cardinal virtues. 1875 H. E. Manning Mission H. Ghost x. 266 The four Cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. |
b. Cardinal virtues also occurs in the general sense (1).
| 1640 Watts Bacon's Adv. Learn. Pref. 33 A seperate history of their virtues: we mean, such as in nature may be accounted Cardinall. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. i. xiii. 63 Force, and Fraud, are in warre the two Cardinall vertues. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones 103 That cardinal virtue, patience. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. ii. §11 (1864) 217 In every kind of expression clearness is a cardinal virtue. |
3. cardinal number (Arith.): a number which answers the question ‘how many?’; one of the primitive or ‘natural’ numbers (one, two, three, etc.), as distinguished from the ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.).
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict. B iij b, The numerals are either Cardinall, that is, principall, vpon which the rest depend, etc. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 328 Adverbs Cardinals; as semel, bis, ter, etc. 1711 J. Greenwood Eng. Gram. 277 Three is a cardinal number. 1845 Stoddart in Encycl. Met. (1847) I. 45/1 Numerals are commonly divided into cardinal and ordinal. |
4. cardinal points; a. the four points of the horizon (or the heavens) which lie in the direction of the earth's two poles (cardines), and of sunrise and sunset respectively; the four intersections of the horizon with the meridian and the prime vertical; the north, south, east, and west points. cardinal winds: the four chief or main winds which blow from these points.
| 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. (1872) 61 Ther is iiij. callit vyndis cardinal. 1643 Parables on Times 15 All the winds in the compasse, both collaterall and cardinall. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) II. 26 They..subdivided the four cardinal winds to two and thirty. 1755 B. Martin Mag. Arts & Sc. iii. ii. 179 Four of them are called the Cardinal Points..S, the South; W, the West; N, the North; E, the East..sometimes called the four Winds of Heaven. 1862 Rawlinson Anc. Mon. I. v. 96 The angles of the building exactly face the four cardinal points. |
† b. of the ecliptic: Astrol. and Astron. The two equinoctial and two solstitial points of the ecliptic; also applied to the corresponding signs of the zodiac, viz. Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricornus, called also cardinal signs. Also, in a horoscope, ‘the First, Fourth, Seventh, and Tenth Houses’ (Bailey). Obs.
| 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xvi. (ed. 7) 311 The two Equinoxes, and the two Solstices, are commonly called the foure cardinall or principall points. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. Wks. (1686) 235 The cardinal intersections of the zodiack. 1839 Bailey Festus viii. (1848) 94 Diurnal, cardinal, nocturnal, equinoctial. |
c. of the prime vertical: ‘Astrol. The rising and setting of the sun, the zenith and nadir’ (Webster); = cardines (see cardo).
5. Phys.
† cardinal humours: ‘an old term for four principal humours, viz. blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.’ (obs.)
cardinal veins: ‘the venous trunks..which transmit the blood in the early embryo from the Wolffian bodies, the vertebral column and the parietes of the trunk to the sinus venosus by means of the ducts of Cuvier. Similar veins from the anterior part of the body join the duct of Cuvier. These are sometimes called anterior cardinal veins and the others posterior cardinal veins’ (Syd. Soc. Lex.).
6. In R.C. Ch. cardinal bishop, cardinal priest, cardinal deacon: a rendering of Lat. episcopus, presbyter, diaconus cardinalis; see cardinal n., which arose from the absol. use of the adj. in this sense. Also (Hist.) cardinal church: rendering of ecclesia cardinalis, the name given in early times to the principal or ‘parish’ churches of Rome, to distinguish them from the ‘oratories’ subordinate to them.
| 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 68 The Title of Cardinal was first given to the Places, that is, to the Cardinal Churches, but apply'd afterwards to the persons that Govern'd them. Ibid. 72 There are six Cardinal Bishops, fifty Cardinal Priests, and fourteen Cardinal Deacons. |
II. 7. Zool. Pertaining to the hinge of a bivalve shell.
| 1836 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 708/1 The part of the shell..upon which the hinge occurs, is called its cardinal edge. 1850 Dana Geol. App. i. 691 The cardinal area is nearly wanting. 1862 ― Man. Geol. 180 The insertions of the cardinal muscle. |
III. [f. cardinal n.]
8. Of the colour of a cardinal's cassock; deep scarlet.
| 1879 Daily News 13 June 2/2 A black satin dress with ‘cardinal’ trimmings. 1882 Garden 7 Oct. 309/2 Single Dahlias..fine deep cardinal. 1887 Sat. Rev. 1 Jan. 19 The young lady in cardinal hose and a scarlet hood. |
▸ cardinal sin n. a. Esp. in traditional Christian moral theology originating from scholastic thought: a sin considered to be one of the primary or major transgressions; spec. one of the seven capital or deadly sins. Cf. capital adj. and n.2 Additions a
In quot. 1623, punning on cardinal n. 1a.
| 1623 Shakespeare & J. Fletcher Henry VIII iii. i. 102, Holy men I thought ye,..two reuerend Cardinall Vertues; but Cardinall Sins, and hollow hearts I feare ye. 1727 ‘Capt. Gulliver’ Mem. Court Lilliput viii. 133 The Cardinal Sins, such as Ambition, Lust, Avarice, Cruelty, Pride, Contempt of the Gods, and wilful Perjury. 1846 N. Amer. Rev. Jan. 34 He [sc. St. Chrysostom] enforced the cardinal Christian virtues..and denounced the cardinal sins, especially covetousness. 1889 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 13 233 Let him of us be guilty of the five cardinal sins, and all the little sins. 1934 F. A. Spencer Beyond Damascus 91 According to Jewish belief.., the Torah embodied the entire revealed will of God. The failure, therefore, to perform the smallest rite was almost as serious as a cardinal sin. 1973 Amer. Lit. 45 227 Mark Twain's remarkable irony is that the cardinal sin of pride is salvation itself. 2003 Newsweek (Nexis) 21 Apr. 62 Seven colors corresponding to the seven cardinal sins—silver-blue for avarice and bordeaux for lust. |
b. Usu. hyperbolically: an unpardonable error or shortcoming; the worst mistake one can make in a particular context, occupation, etc.
| 1825 Times 21 July 3/1 [He] thinks he commits a cardinal sin if he neglects noticing..the birth and parentage of every single-paving stone. 1899 T. Roosevelt Rough Riders App. D, War means fighting; and the soldier's cardinal sin is timidity. 1912 C. Mathewson Pitching in Pinch ii. 36 When a new player breaks into the League, he is put to the most severe test by the other men to see if he is ‘yellow’... It is the cardinal sin in a ball player. 1981 S. J. Flower et al. Debrett's Etiquette & Mod. Manners xi. 288 If a group of people in a pub are taking it in turns to buy a round, it is a cardinal sin for one of them to opt out. 2000 Driving Instructor Feb.–Mar. 3/4 [He] committed the cardinal sin of not doing a dummy run and checking where the driving test centre was located that his client had booked. |
▪ II. cardinal, n.
(ˈkɑːdɪnəl)
Forms: 4 cardenal, -ynal(le, -inarl, (pl. -inaus), 5 -inalle, 5–6 -ynall, 6 -enall, (cartdenall), 6–7 -inall, 2– cardinal.
[absol. uses of prec., after those of cardinālis in later Latin.]
I. The ecclesiastical sense and its derivatives.
1. a. One of the seventy ecclesiastical princes (six cardinal bishops, fifty cardinal priests, and fourteen cardinal deacons) who constitute the pope's council, or the sacred college, and to whom the right of electing the pope has been restricted since the third Lateran council in 1173.
The cardinals hold the highest rank next to the pope, who is chosen from their number. [See cardinal a. 6.]
| 1125 O.E. Chron., On þes ilces ᵹæres sende se papa of Rome to ðise lande an cardinal Johan of Creme. 1297 R. Glouc. 476 Tueie cardinals the pope him sende iwis. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxii. 415 Ich knew neuere cardinal þat he ne cam fro þe pope. c 1538 Starkey England iv. 124 Hys College of Cardynallys. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. i. 51 The right Reuerend Cardinall of Yorke. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. I. i. 23 Rochel..was then straitly besieged by the Cardinal Richelieu. 1782 Priestley Corrupt Chr. II. x. 251 Cardinals..have the rank of princes in the Church. 1845 S. Austin tr. Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 341 The Council..prescribed to Cardinal Raimund very strict conditions. |
b. Preceding other titles, indicating dignities held by one who is also a cardinal.
| 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 79 The Cardinal Nephew, whom they call Padrone. Ibid. 84 The Cardinal Vicar. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4525/1 In the Cardinal-Legate's Coach. 1783 Watson Philip III (1839) 225 The cardinal-archbishop went himself to Rome. |
† c. the cardinal's blessing: a blessing merely without any further advantage. Obs.
| 1702 C. Mather Magn. Chr. vii. 32 What will they merit but the Cardinal's Blessing who will take no warning? 1758 Jortin Erasm. I. 53 A gift, which, in all probability, would never be worth more than a Cardinal's Blessing. |
d. Either of two (Senior and Junior) of the minor canons of St. Paul's Cathedral (see quot. 1868).
| 1748 Chamberlayne Pres. St. Gt. Brit. (ed. 37) ii. iii. 231, 12 Minor Canons [of St. Paul's Cathedral]... The Rev. Mr. William Rayner, Subdean, sen. The Rev. Mr. Dechair sen. Cardinal, The Rev. Mr. Hilman jun. Cardinal, [etc.]. 1868 Walcott Sacred Archæol. 113 Cardinal. The word, when applied to an altar, means the high or principal altar, and from their attendance upon it two minor canons at St. Paul's are still called the senior and junior cardinals. 1877 J. D. Chambers Divine Worship 90 At S. Paul's, London..there were four Vicars called Cardinals. |
† 2. Name of a variety of apple. Obs.
| 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 223 Apples..Lording-Apple, Pear-Apple, Cardinal, Winter Chestnut. |
3. A short cloak worn by ladies, originally of scarlet cloth with a hood.
| 1745 Mrs. Delany Life & Corr. (1861) II. 382 You are capering about in your fine cardinals. 1775 Sheridan Duenna i. iii. 193 My cardinal & veil are in her room. 1826 Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. (1863) 451 The thickest and brightest red cardinal that ever came out of a woollen-draper's shop. 1858 Thackeray Virgin. xxxii. (1878) 248. |
4. = cardinal-bird; see 7.
| 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 467 The Cardinal. This bird is frequently imported from South Carolina. 1851 Voy. Mauritius iv. 160 The cardinal, though scarcely larger than a bullfinch, is conspicuous for his bright scarlet plumage. |
5. slang. ‘Mulled red wine’.
II. 6. In pl. (for the adj. with a n. pl.). = cardinal points, winds, virtues, numbers, muscles, etc.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. vi. (1495) 304 The endes of this lyne that hyghte Axis ben pyghte in the poles and hyghte Cardinales. 1735 P. Gordon Geog. Anat., It is impossible to distinguish properly in it any one of the intermediate points of the compass; nay, or so much as two of the four cardinals themselves. 1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 402 Philosophy..classes the virtues under the four cardinals of prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice. 1816 J. Smith Sc. & Art II. 183 Each segment between the several cardinals and their compounds, is subdivided into four equal portions. 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. 553 Three pairs [of muscles]..denominated respectively ‘adductors’, ‘cardinals’, and ‘accessory cardinals’. 1871 Roby Lat. Gram. I. 442 The genitive plural of the cardinals and distributives. |
III. 7. Comb. (all in sense 1), as cardinal-making vbl. n.; cardinal-bird, grosbeak, a North American singing-bird (Cardinalis virginianus) with scarlet plumage; cardinal's († cardinal) hat, the red hat worn by a cardinal, taken typically for his dignity or office; cardinal lace, the name of a modern pattern of lace; cardinal spider (see quot.). Also cardinal-flower.
| 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) II. 161 The *Cardinal Grosbeak..is an inhabitant of several parts of North America. 1885 A. Brassey In Trades 422 Cardinal gros-beaks (Petylus Cardinalis) are a kind of Virginian nightingale. |
| 1538 Bale Thre Lawes 1225 And as moch besydes he had not longe afore For a *Cardynall hatte. 1832 G. Downes Lett. Cont. Countries I. 349 The devices of a cock and a Cardinal's hat. |
| 1881 Daily News 12 Sept. 3/5 *Cardinal laces are still wanted. |
| 1662 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. iv. 16 This custom of *cardinal-making. |
| 1883 Wood in Gd. Words Dec. 762/1 The common House-spider..sometimes grows to an enormous size, and it is then known by the name of the *Cardinal Spider. |