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Cardinal vs Central - What's the difference?

cardinal | central |

As a noun cardinal

is (baseball) a player on the st louis cardinals team.

As an adjective central is

being in the centre.

cardinal

English

(wikipedia cardinal)

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal.
    • a cardinal rule
  • * Shakespeare
    • But cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, I fear ye.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
    • the cardinal intersections of the zodiac
  • * Drayton
    • Impudence is now a cardinal virtue.
  • (nautical) Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west).
    • a cardinal mark
  • Describing a "natural" number used to indicate quantity (e.g., one, two, three), as opposed to an ordinal number indicating relative position.
  • Having a bright red color (from the color of a Catholic cardinal's cassock).

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • A number indicating quantity, or the size of a set, e.g., one, two, three.
  • *1920 , (Bertrand Russell), Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy , p.83:
  • *:This cardinal number is the smallest of the infinite cardinal numbers; it is the one to which Cantor has appropriated the Hebrew aleph with the suffix 0, to distinguish it from larger infinite cardinals'. Thus the name of the smallest of infinite ' cardinals is .
  • (lb) A word used to represent a cardinal number; a cardinal numeral.
  • *2005 , , (w, Wheelock's Latin) , 6th ed. revised, p.97:
  • *:The commonest numerals in Latin, as in English, are the "cardinals ".
  • An official in the .)
  • *{{quote-book, year=1932, author=(Maurice Baring)
    • , chapter=16, title= Friday's Business , passage=His uncle, a Cardinal , engages a Spanish youth of Moorish descent called Diego, an expert singer and player on the virginal, to unlock the secrets of the heart,
  • A genus of songbirds of the finch family, Cardinalis .
  • Any of various related passerine birds of the family Cardinalidae (See ) and other similar birds that were once considered to be related.
  • *
  • *:Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
  • A shade of scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock.
  • :
  • A woman's short cloak with a hood.
  • * (1733-1764)
  • *:Where's your cardinal ! Make haste.
  • Mulled red wine.
  • :(Hotten)

    • Derived terms

    * cardinal bird * cardinal concern * cardinal number * cardinal fish * cardinal flower * cardinally * cardinal numeral * cardinal point * cardinal spider * cardinal symptom * cardinal virtue * cardinal vowels * cardinalate * cardinality * cardinalship * incardinate

    See also

    * * Contrast with ordinal (numbers) * (abbreviation)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    central

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Being in the centre.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-27, volume=408, issue=8846, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Putting down roots , passage=The plantoid
  • Being the most important.
  • Having or containing the centre of something.
  • Being very important, or key to something.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=September 7, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Moldova 0-5 England , passage=Cleverley was a central figure as England took the lead inside three minutes. He saw his shot handled by Moldovan defender Simion Bulgaru and Lampard drilled home the penalty in trademark fashion.}}

    Derived terms

    * central bank * central heating * central locking * centralisation * centralise * centrally * centralness