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# cardinal

«cardinal» in Mova's school dictionary: **A senior leader in the Roman Catholic Church who wears…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#m1)

2) A bright red songbird of North America; the male is red with a crest. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#m2)

3) (adjective) Most important or basic, as in "a cardinal rule". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#m3)

4) (maths) A cardinal number is a counting number like one, two, three, as opposed to first, second, third. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#m4)

5) A deep red colour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#m5)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#x1)
- A red cardinal sat on our bird feeder. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#x2)
- The cardinal points are north, east, south and west. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#x3)
- Three is a cardinal number; third is an ordinal number. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#x4)
- The cardinal rule of the pool is no running. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#x5)
- The cardinal wore a red robe and hat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#x6)
- 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/#x7)

### 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cardinal/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.