cardinal

[kaʁ.di.nal]

/[kaʁ.di.nal]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“cardinal” is uncommon German (frequency #57,746 among 20,081 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,746
frequency rank, German
20,081
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - religiöser Titel der römisch-katholischen Kirche, Kardinal

Key facts for cardinal
PropertyValue
Headwordcardinal
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[kaʁ.di.nal]
Letters8
Frequency rank#57,746
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cardinal” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). cardinal lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cardinal is uncommon German at frequency #57,746 among 20,081 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [kaʁ.di.nal]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for cardinal, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable German rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is cardinal, spelled C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    religiöser Titel der römisch-katholischen Kirche, Kardinal
  2. 2
    Mitglied einer Vogelfamilie, der Kardinäle

This word in other languages

cardinal(English)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cardinal"?
"cardinal" is spelled C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is [kaʁ.di.nal].
What does "cardinal" mean?
As a noun, "cardinal" means: religiöser Titel der römisch-katholischen Kirche, Kardinal
How do you pronounce "cardinal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cardinal" is [kaʁ.di.nal]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cardinal" come from?
"cardinal" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “cardinal”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [kaʁ.di.nal] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words

Other uncommon German words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list