gist Copy link Outline 1. cardo ĭnis, m.2. expr. by contĭneo, 2 • gist: i. e. the main point: 1. cardo ĭnis, m.: with some defining gen. (lit. hinge): they do not concern themselves about what is the real g. of a case, quorum nihil refert ubi litium c. vertitur, Quint. 12, 8, 3: simly. causae c., id. 5, 12, 3. (N.B.--Not so in Cic.) 2. expr. by contĭneo, 2: the real g. of this question is the point respecting the nature of the gods, continet hanc totam quaestionem ea ratio quae est de natura Deorum, Cic. Div. 1, 51, 117: the real g. of the question, quod maxime rem causamque continet, Cic. N. D. 1, 1, 2. Simly in Cic. Part. 29, 103, we have continentia causarum = the real points at issue, like cardo supr.