cardinais

Cardinais is the plural form of the Portuguese adjective cardinal, used to describe things that are central, fundamental, or of primary order within a given domain. It appears in several contexts, where it typically modifies masculine plural nouns, such as números cardinais (cardinal numbers), pontos cardinais (cardinal points), or direções cardinais (cardinal directions).

The term derives from Latin cardinalis and shares its root with the English word cardinal. In many uses, cardinais carries a sense of prominence or primacy, distinguishing basic or essential elements from others. It is important to note that cardinais is an adjective form; it is not the name of a person or a specific title.

A common point of confusion is the ecclesiastical rank of cardinal in Portuguese. That title is written cardeal, with plural cardeais. Therefore, cardinais generally appears in non-clerical contexts to describe cardinality, directions, numbers, or signs, rather than referring to church officials.

Examples of usage include números cardinais for cardinal numbers in mathematics, pontos cardinais or direções cardinais for primary directions (north, south, east, west), and signos cardinais in astrology to denote the four cardinal signs. In sum, cardinais is a versatile adjective used across disciplines to denote fundamental or principal elements.