Etymologically
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cardinal

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈkɑː.dɪ.nəl/, US /ˈkɑːr.dɪ.nəl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English cardinal, borrowed from Medieval Latin cardinālis, short for phrases such as episcopus cardinālis (“chief bishop”),[2][3][4][5] from Late Latin cardinālis (“principal, chief, pivotal”), in Latin “of a hinge”,[2][3][4][6] from Latin cardō (“hinge, pivot”), of unknown origin.[2][3][7] The adjective came in Middle English through Old French cardinal.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A high official of the Roman Church: before 1126, in a chronicle, in Barnhart; the early 12th century in Etymonline.[2][3] The NODE notes that the sense comes from the priests' function as pivots of church life.[5]

Semantic evolution

The adjective, chief or fundamental, is probably from before 1325,[2] and was first applied in English to the four cardinal virtues on which conduct “hinges” (before 1300).[4][8] The cardinal points are from 1549 and the cardinal numbers from 1591,[8][3] the numbers on which the ordinals depend.[3] The cardinal sins are so called from about 1600.[3] The red North American songbird, named for the cardinals' robes, is from the 1670s.[3] Cardinal vowels are from 1922.[8] In Banffshire dialect a cardinal was a woman's cloak.[9]

Timeline

  • before 1126 – a cardinal of the Church.[2]
  • before 1300 – cardinal virtues.[8]
  • 1549 – cardinal points.[8]
  • 1591 – cardinal numbers.[8]
  • 1670s – the cardinal bird.[3]
  • 1922 – cardinal vowels.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (Roman Catholic Church) A member of the Sacred College, ranking next after the pope, who elects the pope and advises him.
  2. A deep, vivid red colour.
  3. A crested North American songbird, the male of which is bright red.
  4. A cardinal number.

Adjective

  1. Of the greatest importance; chief, fundamental: a cardinal rule.
  2. Of a deep, vivid red.

Word family

  • cardinalship
  • cardinally
  • cardinalfish
  • intercardinal
  • cardinalate
  • cardinality
  • incardinate
  • postcardinal
  • cardinal number
  • cardinal point

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)