cardinalis

Forms

cardinālis (neuter cardināle); third-declension two-termination adjective^[1] Medieval spellings include ⟨kardinalis⟩, ⟨gardinalis⟩, ⟨cardenalis⟩ and ⟨cardonalis⟩.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin cardō (“door hinge, pivot”) + -ālis.^[4][1][5] Etymonline calls the figurative sense “principal, chief” a use of the literal “of a hinge”, since a cardō is that on which something turns or depends.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Vitruvius is the first to use it: in his rules for temple doors he speaks of the scapī cardinālēs, the posts of the door that turn on the hinges.^[5][7][8][3]

Semantic evolution

Later Latin used it of the hinges of the sky, the four quarters of the heavens: Firmicus Maternus applies it in astrology, and Servius counts four cardinal winds, Eurus and Zephyrus among them.^[5][7] From “that on which something turns” it came to mean “principal, chief”.^[7][8] Ambrose speaks of the cardinal virtues and Augustine of eternal causes that are, in a way, cardinal;^[5][9] Priscian calls the numbers one, two, three and so on the numerī cardinālēs, as against the ordinals.^[5][7] Augustine calls leading Donatists cardinālēs,^[5][10] and the Notitia Dignitatum and Cassiodorus use it of officials.^[5]

In the Church it was used of clergy attached permanently to a particular church.^[11][5] A letter of Pope Gelasius already uses it of a priest,^[5] and Gregory the Great asks a bishop to ordain one cardinal priest and two deacons for a church, and appoints a bishop cardinal priest of another church.^[5][8] In Rome the presbyterī cardinālēs were the priests attached to the titular churches, the episcopī cardinālēs the suburbicarian bishops who celebrated with the pope, and the diaconī cardinālēs the deacons of the seven regions of the city.^[11][7] From this came the noun, a cardinal of the Roman church, one of the pope's council;^[7][11][12] the medieval Church also had cardinals at some cathedrals elsewhere,^[2][13] and in English sources the word could mean a minor canon in charge of the choir.^[14] Medieval writers kept the senses “chief”, “of the four quarters”, and “cardinal” of numbers and virtues;^[2][11] Niermeyer also records it of churches with full parish rights.^[11]

English took cardinal as a noun in the early 12th century and as an adjective in the early 14th.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it of the hinge posts of a door.^[5][3]
• 343/350 AD – Firmicus Maternus uses it in astrology.^[5][3]
• c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose speaks of the cardinal virtues.^[5][8][3]
• c. 400 AD – Servius names the four cardinal winds.^[5][7][3]
• 492–496 AD – A papal letter of Gelasius uses it of a priest.^[5][3]
• 6th century AD – Priscian calls the numbers one, two, three the cardinal numbers.^[5][3]
• 540–604 AD – Gregory the Great writes of cardinal priests and bishops.^[5][8][3]
• 1091 – A charter in the Hungarian sources names the cardinal Teuzo among its witnesses.^[15]
• early 12th century – English borrows the noun cardinal.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a door hinge; serving as a hinge or pivot.^[4][7][5]
2. (Late Latin) Of the four quarters of the heavens;^[5][7][11] ventī cardinālēs: the cardinal winds.^[5][7][11]
3. (Late Latin) Principal, chief; that on which something turns.^[7][8][11]
4. (grammar) numerī cardinālēs: the cardinal numbers.^[7][5][16]
5. virtūtēs cardinālēs: the cardinal virtues.^[9][2][14]
6. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin, of clergy) Attached permanently to a particular church.^[11][5][2]
7. (Medieval Latin, of a church) Having full parish rights.^[11]

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A cardinal of the Roman church; originally a chief priest of one of its churches.^{[7][11][12][1]}
2. (Medieval Latin) A senior priest at certain cathedrals; in English sources, a minor canon in charge of the choir.^[13][14]
3. (grammar) A cardinal numeral.^[1]

Word family

• cardinālitās
• cardināliter
• cardinālātus

Related words

• English cardinal

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
9. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
10. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
12. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
13. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
14. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
15. ^ Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
16. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.