Cardinal

kär′din-al, adj. denoting that on which a thing hinges or depends: principal; of a deep scarlet colour, like a cardinal's ca ock.— n. one of the seventy princes of the church constituting the sacred college at Rome, to whom pertains the right of electing a new pope: a short cloak, formerly worn by ladies.— ns. Car′dinalate , Car′dinalship , the office or dignity of a cardinal; Car′dinal-bird , a species of grosbeak, one of the finest song-birds of America, probably so called from its red plumage.— adv. Car′dinally , fundamentally: ( Shak. , Measure for Measure , II. i. 81) carnally.— Cardinal flower (see Lobelia ); Cardinal numbers , numbers expre ing how many; Cardinal points , the four chief points of the compa —north, south, east, and west; Cardinal virtues , justice, prudence, temperance, fortitude, so called because the whole of human nature was supposed to hinge or turn upon them—the natural as distinguished from the theological virtues. [Fr.—L. cardinal is — car do , card in is , a hinge.]