cardinal
part of speech
noun (a cardinal, cardinals); adjective (cardinal)
meaning for a pupil
1) (church) A senior leader in the Roman Catholic Church who wears red and helps choose the Pope. tree →
2) A bright red songbird of North America; the male is red with a crest. tree →
3) (adjective) Most important or basic, as in "a cardinal rule". tree →
4) (maths) A cardinal number is a counting number like one, two, three, as opposed to first, second, third. tree →
5) A deep red colour. tree →
sense in the lessons
In church and history lessons cardinals elect the Pope. In nature lessons in the USA and Canada the cardinal is a common garden bird. In maths, cardinal numbers count how many and ordinal numbers show order. Geography uses "cardinal points" for north, south, east and west. Phrases: "cardinal points", "cardinal numbers", "cardinal rule", "cardinal sin".
examples
- The cardinals met in Rome to choose a new Pope. tree →
- A red cardinal sat on our bird feeder. tree →
- The cardinal points are north, east, south and west. tree →
- Three is a cardinal number; third is an ordinal number. tree →
- The cardinal rule of the pool is no running. tree →
- The cardinal wore a red robe and hat. tree →
- At last he arrived in Rome, where the Pope had just died, and there was great doubt among the cardinals as to whom they should appoint as his successor. tree →
note
In maths: cardinal numbers = 1, 2, 3 (how many); ordinal numbers = 1st, 2nd, 3rd (which position). "Cardinal sins" in church teaching are the seven deadly sins. Plural: cardinals.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «cardinal» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.