cardinal

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Of foremost importance; paramount: a cardinal rule; cardinal sins.
2. adj. Dark to deep or vivid red.
3. n. Roman Catholic Church A high church official, ranking just below the pope, who has been appointed by a pope to membership in the College of Cardinals.
4. n. A dark to deep or vivid red.
5. n. A North American finch (Cardinalis cardinalis) having a crested head, a short thick bill, and bright red plumage in the male.
6. n. A short hooded cloak, originally of scarlet cloth, worn by women in the 18th century.
7. n. A cardinal number.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a hinge; noting that on which something else hinges or depends; hence, chief; fundamental; preëminent; of special importance: as, cardinal virtues or sins; the cardinal doctrines of a creed; the cardinal points.
2. In conchology, of or relating to the hinge of a bivalve shell: as, cardinal teeth.
3. In entomology, pertaining to the cardo or base of the maxilla, which is sometimes called the cardinal piece.
4. [See II., 3.] Of a rich deep-red color, somewhat less vivid than scarlet.
5. In astrology, the rising and setting of the sun, the zenith, and the nadir.

Wiktionary

1. adj. Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.
2. adj. Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).
3. adj. Describing a "natural" number used to indicate quantity (e.g, one, two, three), as opposed to an ordinal number indicating relative position.
4. adj. Having a bright red color (from the color of a Catholic cardinal's cassock).
5. n. A number indicating quantity, or the size of a set, e.g, one, two, three. (See Wikipedia article on Cardinal number.)
6. n. An official in the Catholic Church, ranking only below the Pope and the patriarchs. (See Wikipedia article on Catholic cardinals.)
7. n. A songbird of the finch family, Cardinalis cardinalis.
8. n. Any of various related passerine birds of the family Cardinalidae. (See Wikipedia article on cardinal birds.)
9. n. A shade of scarlet associated with the colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. adj. Of fundamental importance; preëminent; superior; chief; principal.
2. n. One of the ecclesiastical princes who constitute the pope's council, or the sacred college.
3. n. A woman's short cloak with a hood.
4. n. Mulled red wine.
5. n. the cardinal bird, also called the northern cardinal.

WordNet 3.0

1. adj. being or denoting a numerical quantity but not order
2. n. the number of elements in a mathematical set; denotes a quantity but not the order
3. adj. serving as an essential component
4. n. (Roman Catholic Church) one of a group of more than 100 prominent bishops in the Sacred College who advise the Pope and elect new Popes
5. n. crested thick-billed North American finch having bright red plumage in the male
6. n. a variable color averaging a vivid red