point cardinal

\pwɛ̃ kaʁ.di.nal\

/\pwɛ̃ kaʁ.di.nal\/ noun

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

The verdict

“point 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
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Chacun des quatre points de référence géographiques : nord, sud, est et ouest.

Key facts for point cardinal
PropertyValue
Headwordpoint cardinal
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pwɛ̃ kaʁ.di.nal\
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “point cardinal” sits in French frequency

point 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

point cardinal is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \pwɛ̃ kaʁ.di.nal\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for point cardinal in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable French rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is point cardinal, spelled P-O-I-N-T- -C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Chacun des quatre points de référence géographiques : nord, sud, est et ouest.
  2. 2
    Direction selon chacun de ces quatre points.
  3. 3
    Ensemble de points dont la connaissance permet la détermination complète des propriétés d'un système optique.

This word in other languages

Himmelsrichtung(Deutsch)

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 "point cardinal"?
"point cardinal" is spelled P-O-I-N-T- -C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is \pwɛ̃ kaʁ.di.nal\.
What does "point cardinal" mean?
As a noun, "point cardinal" means: Chacun des quatre points de référence géographiques : nord, sud, est et ouest.
How do you pronounce "point cardinal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "point cardinal" is \pwɛ̃ kaʁ.di.nal\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "point cardinal" come from?
"point cardinal" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “point cardinal”

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

  • The one correct French spelling is P-O-I-N-T- -C-A-R-D-I-N-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pwɛ̃ 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