Meanings
cardinalate1
plural cardinalates
- The dignity and ecclesiastic office of Roman Catholic cardinal.
The cardinalate ranks equal to a secular prince of the blood.
Synonyms: cardinalship
- The Roman Catholic cardinals, taken collectively.
The cardinalate under a maximum age composes the conclave which elects the pope.
cardinalate2
present singular third person cardinalates · participle present cardinalating · participle past cardinalated · past cardinalated
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe dignity and ecclesiastic office of Roman Catholic cardinal.
More synonyms by meaning
noun(Roman Catholic Church) the body of all cardinals of the church; elects and advises the pope
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
cardinalate · noun
- Ecclesiastical Latincardinālātus
- Englishcardinalate
Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin cardinālātus, from cardinālis (“cardinal”) + -ātus, itself the noun use of an adjective derived from cardō (“hinge, main point”) + -ālis (“-al”). By surface analysis, cardinal + -ate (forms nouns denoting rank or office).
More words from Ecclesiastical Latin
Full word history & related roots →cardinalate · verb
First attested in 1587; from cardinal + -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 樞機主教之職 /枢机主教之职
- 樞機主教之職 /枢机主教之职 (shūjī zhǔjiào zhī zhí)the dignity and ecclestiastic office of Roman Catholic cardinal
Dutch kardinaalschap, kardinalaat
- kardinaalschapthe dignity and ecclestiastic office of Roman Catholic cardinal
- kardinalaatthe dignity and ecclestiastic office of Roman Catholic cardinal
- kardinalaatcollective term for the cardinals
French cardinalat
- cardinalatthe dignity and ecclestiastic office of Roman Catholic cardinal
German Kardinalat
- Kardinalatthe dignity and ecclestiastic office of Roman Catholic cardinal
Irish cairdinéalacht
- cairdinéalachtthe dignity and ecclestiastic office of Roman Catholic cardinal
Italian cardinalato
- cardinalatothe dignity and ecclestiastic office of Roman Catholic cardinal
Māori ngā katinara
- ngā katinaracollective term for the cardinals
Cite this entry
cardinalate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cardinalate
“cardinalate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cardinalate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cardinalate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cardinalate.
Source: cardinalate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.