cardĭnālis, e, adj. [cardo].
I Of or pertaining to a door-hinge : scapi, Vitr. 4, 6, 4.—
II Trop., that on which something turns , depends , i. e. principal , chief : venti, the principal or cardinal winds , Serv. ad Verg. A. 1, 131; Isid. Orig. 13, 11, 14; cf. virtutes, Hier ap. Macr. S. 1, 16-19; Ambros. ap. Luc. 5, § 49 al.—Hence, in late Lat.: cardinalia Christi opera, Cypr.—
B Esp.
1 As eccl. term; subst., a chief presbyter , as opp. to one who ministered in an Oratorium; and esp. of such forming the council of the Pope at Rome, which afterwards consisted only of bishops, cardinals , Anast. p. 95.—
2 In gram.: numeri, the Cardinal Numbers (unus, duo, tres, etc., from which the Ordinals and Distributives are formed), Prisc. Pond. p. 1351 P.—Hence, * cardĭ-nālĭter , adv., chiefly , principally : praesidere, especially , Firm. Math. 410.