cardinal vs main

cardinal

adj
  • Of fundamental importance; crucial, pivotal. 

  • Having a bright red color (from the color of a Catholic cardinal's cassock). 

  • Of or relating to the cardinal directions (north, south, east and west). 

  • Describing a "natural" number used to indicate quantity (e.g., zero, one, two, three), as opposed to an ordinal number indicating relative position. 

noun
  • One of the officials appointed by the pope in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking only below the pope and the patriarchs, constituting the special college which elects the pope. (See Wikipedia article on Catholic cardinals.) 

  • Any of various related passerine birds of the family Cardinalidae (See Wikipedia article on cardinals) and other similar birds that were once considered to be related. 

  • A deep red color, somewhat less vivid than scarlet, the traditional colour of a Catholic cardinal's cassock. (same as cardinal red) 

  • A woman's short cloak with a hood, originally made of scarlet cloth. 

  • Any of a genus of songbirds of the finch family, Cardinalis. 

main

adj
  • Of chief or leading importance; prime, principal. 

  • Big; angry. 

  • Chief, most important, or principal in extent, size, or strength; consisting of the largest part. 

  • Belonging to or connected with the principal mast in a vessel. 

noun
  • That which is chief or principal; the chief or main portion; the bulk, the greater part, gross. 

  • The primary character that one plays in a video game in which one can play more than one character. 

  • The high seas. 

  • A large cable or pipe providing utility service to an area or a building, such as a water main or electric main. 

  • A banker's shovel for coins. 

verb
  • To mainly play a specific character or side, or with specific equipment, during a game. 

adv
  • Exceedingly, extremely, greatly, mightily, very, very much. 

How often have the words cardinal and main occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )