nombre cardinal

\nɔ̃bʁ kaʁ.di.nal\

/\nɔ̃bʁ kaʁ.di.nal\/ noun

The verdict

“nombre cardinal” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
15
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nombre d’éléments d’un ensemble fini. En choisissant une axiomatique suffisante, on peut prolonger cette notion pour les ensembles infinis. Dans la théorie des ensembles de Zermelo-Fraenkel avec ax...

Key facts for nombre cardinal
PropertyValue
Headwordnombre cardinal
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\nɔ̃bʁ kaʁ.di.nal\
Letters15
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “nombre cardinal” sits in French frequency

nombre cardinal falls outside the top-100,000 ranked French words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nombre cardinal is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \nɔ̃bʁ kaʁ.di.nal\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Nombre d’éléments d’un ensemble fini. En choisissant une axiomatique suffisante, on peut prolonger cette notion pour les ensembles infinis. Dans la théorie des ensembles de Zermelo-Fraenkel avec ax...".

No generated misspelling entries exist for nombre cardinal in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is nombre cardinal, spelled N-O-M-B-R-E- -C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Nombre d’éléments d’un ensemble fini. En choisissant une axiomatique suffisante, on peut prolonger cette notion pour les ensembles infinis. Dans la théorie des ensembles de Zermelo-Fraenkel avec axiome du choix, un nombre cardinal est alors défini comme un nombre ordinal (de von Neumann) qui n'est équipotent à aucun ordinal qui lui soit strictement inférieur. Le cardinal d'un ensemble est le plus petit ordinal auquel cet ensemble est équipotent. Cette définition contredit la citation qui suit.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "nombre cardinal"?
"nombre cardinal" is spelled N-O-M-B-R-E- -C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is \nɔ̃bʁ kaʁ.di.nal\.
What does "nombre cardinal" mean?
As a noun, "nombre cardinal" means: Nombre d’éléments d’un ensemble fini. En choisissant une axiomatique suffisante, on peut prolonger cette notion pour les ensembles infinis. Dans la théorie des ensembles de Zermelo-Fraenkel avec ax...
How do you pronounce "nombre cardinal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nombre cardinal" is \nɔ̃bʁ kaʁ.di.nal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "nombre cardinal" come from?
"nombre cardinal" is a French 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 “nombre cardinal”

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

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