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Of fundamental importance; preëminet; superior; chief; principal. The cardinal intersections of the zodiac. Sir T. Browne. Impudence is now a cardinal virtue. Drayton. But cardinal sins, and hollow hearts, I fear ye. Shak. Cardinal numbers, the numbers one, two, three, etc., in distinction from first, second, third, et…

th a person's signature, etc., at the bottom, given to another person, with permission to superscribe what conditions he pleases. Hence: Unconditional terms; unlimited authority.

Having the lowest inferior segment of a pinna nearer the rachis than the lowest superior one; -- said of a mode of branching in ferns, and opposed to anadromous.

Supercilious; haughty; disdainful; curt; brusque.

In a supercilious, disdainful, or haughty manner; arroganty. Junius.

ht me. Shak. Master of ceremonies, an officer who determines the forms to be observed, or superintends their observance, on a public occasion. -- Not to stand on ceremony, not to be ceremonious; to be familiar, outspoken, or bold.

A writ issuing out of chancery, or a superior court, to call up the records of a inferior court, or remove a cause there depending, in order that the party may have more sure and speedy justice, or that errors and irreguarities may be corrected. It is obtained upon complaint of a party that he has not received justice,…

A cistern in the course, or the termination, of a drain, to collect sedimentary or superfluous matter; a privy vault; any receptace of filth. [Written also sesspool.]

A claim or demand. [Obs.] There must be no challenge of superiority. Collier.

Of superior quality and temper; -- applied to steel. [Obs.] Milton.

To subdue, control, or summon by incantation or supernatural influence; to affect by magic. No witchcraft charm thee! Shak.

cator's projection. See Projection. -- Plane chart, a representation of some part of the superficies of the globe, in which its spherical form is disregarded, the meridians being drawn parallel to each other, and the parallels of latitude at equal distances. -- Selenographic chart, a map representing the surface of t…

An official administering a prefecture of China; a prefect, supervising the civil business of the hsiens or districts comprised in his fu (which see).

A tribe of Indians formerly inhabiting the northern and weastern shores of Lake Superior; -- called also Objibways.

Worthly of being chosen or preferred; select; superior; precious; valuable. My choicest hours of life are lost. Swift.

A chorus leader; esp. one who provided at his own expense and under his own supervision one of the choruses for the musical contents at Athens.

e alphabet; -- formerly so called, either from the cross usually set before it, or from a superstitious custom, sometimes practiced, of writing it in the form of a cross, by way of a charm. From infant conning of the Christcross-row. Wordsworth.

A superintendent or keeper of a church's valuables; a churchwarden. [Obs.] Bailey.

ne of the sections into which a church or congregation is divided, and which is under the supervision of a class leader. Class of a curve (Math.), the kind of a curve as expressed by the number of tangents that can be drawn from any point to the curve. A circle is of the second class. -- Class meeting (Methodist Churc…

A keyed stringed instrument, now superseded by the pianoforte. See Clarichord.