# cardinal

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈkɑː.dɪ.nəl/ · frequency rank #8,253

## Definitions
1. Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.
2. Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).
3. Describing a “natural” number used to indicate quantity (e.g., zero, one, two, three), as opposed to an ordinal number indicating relative position.
4. Having a bright red color (from the color of a Catholic cardinal’s cassock).
5. Being one of the signs Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, associated with initiation, creation, and force.

## Etymology
From Middle French cardinal, from Latin cardinālis (“pertaining to a hinge, hence applied to that on which something turns or depends, important, principal, chief”), from cardin-, cardō (“hinge”) + -ālis, adjectival suffix.

## Easily confused with
- **carnal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cardinal-vs-carnal)
- **Carina** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cardinal-vs-carina)
- **cordial** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cardinal-vs-cordial)
- **carnival** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cardinal-vs-carnival)
- **Cardinals** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cardinal-vs-cardinals)
- **cardiac** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cardiac-vs-cardinal)
- **cardigan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cardigan-vs-cardinal)
- **Cardenas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cardenas-vs-cardinal)

## Common misspellings (12)
`acrdinal`, `cadrinal`, `carddinal`, `cardianl`, `cardinall`, `cardinla`, `cardinnal`, `cardnial`, `caridnal`, `carrdinal`, `ccardinal`, `cradinal`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cardinal