"cardinal" in the noun sense
1. cardinal
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. cardinal number, cardinal
the number of elements in a mathematical set denotes a quantity but not the order
3. cardinal, carmine
a variable color averaging a vivid red
4. cardinal, cardinal grosbeak, Richmondena Cardinalis, Cardinalis cardinalis, redbird
crested thick-billed North American finch having bright red plumage in the male
"cardinal" in the adjective sense
1. cardinal, central, fundamental, key, primal
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"
2. cardinal
being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order
"cardinal numbers"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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