cardinal number
Americannoun
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Also called cardinal numeral. any of the numbers that express amount, as one, two, three, etc. (distinguished from ordinal number).
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Also called potency, power. Mathematics. a number or symbol analogous to the number of elements in a finite set, being identical for two sets that can be placed into one-to-one correspondence.
The cardinal number of the set a1, a2, … an is n.
noun
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Sometimes shortened to: cardinal. a number denoting quantity but not order in a set
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maths logic
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a measure of the size of a set that does not take account of the order of its members Compare natural number
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a particular number having this function
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A number, such as 3, 11, or 412, used in counting to indicate quantity but not order.
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Compare ordinal number
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cardinal number
First recorded in 1585–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For every infinite cardinal ℵa, there is a next larger cardinal number ℵa+1.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 16, 2021
The cardinal number 𝔡 is defined as the smallest possible size of a set of continuous functions sufficient to dominate every possible continuous function.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 16, 2021
I suspect that Macrobius, in his representation, has mistaken the cardinal number for the ordinal; and that what he renders one should be first, or chief.
From A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume I. by Bryant, Jacob
But so long as the cardinal number is inferred from the collections, not constructed in terms of them, its existence must remain in doubt, unless in virtue of a metaphysical postulate ad hoc.
From Mysticism and Logic and Other Essays by Russell, Bertrand
When he first adopted this definition from Frege, he was led to make the inference that the class of all possible classes might furnish a type for a greatest cardinal number.
From Creative Intelligence Essays in the Pragmatic Attitude by Bode, Boyd H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
