CARDINAL has multiple meanings: a bright red songbird, a high-ranking Catholic church official, a fundamental principle, or the basic counting numbers. Each meaning reflects importance and primacy in its domain.
Yes. CARDINAL is in the Scrabble-style word list used by our tools and scores 11 points in Scrabble, 14 in Words With Friends and 12 in Wordfeud (base tile values, no board multipliers). Always check the dictionary your game uses (NWL, Collins or the WWF list) before playing.
| Letter | C | A | R | D | I | N | A | L | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrabble | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| Words With Friends | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| Wordfeud | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
CARDINAL represents several distinct yet conceptually related meanings, all sharing the theme of fundamental importance or primary position. As a bird, the cardinal is perhaps North America's most recognizable songbird, with the male's brilliant red plumage making it unmistakable. These birds don't migrate, brightening winter landscapes with their vivid color and cheerful songs.
In the Catholic Church hierarchy, Cardinals rank just below the Pope, serving as his principal assistants and advisors. These princes of the church wear distinctive scarlet vestments symbolizing their willingness to shed blood for their faith. The College of Cardinals elects new popes, making them among the most influential figures in a religion followed by over a billion people worldwide.
As an adjective, cardinal means "of fundamental importance" or "principal." We speak of cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, temperance, courage), cardinal directions (north, south, east, west), and cardinal sins. This usage emphasizes that some things serve as foundations upon which everything else depends.
CARDINAL derives from the Latin "cardinalis," meaning "principal" or "chief," which comes from "cardo" (genitive "cardinis"), meaning "hinge." The Romans used "cardo" for the pivotal points on which something turns—literally, a door hinge, and figuratively, something of crucial importance.
Anagrams: no other word uses exactly the letters of CARDINAL.
Hooks: no front hooks; back CARDINALS.
Words inside CARDINAL: 129 shorter words can be made from these letters – highest scoring: RADICALACARIDCANARDCARDIACARINALCRANIALRANCIDACINARACRIDALCIDARNICACAIRD. See all words from CARDINAL.