ordinal numbers

Cultural  

1. Numbers that indicate the order or position of something in a group or set, such as first, second, or fifteenth. (Compare cardinal numbers.)

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Example Sentences

The assumption is that something of the essence of institutions, public or private, small or large, religious or not, can be distilled by crunching data and assembling lists with ordinal numbers.

From Washington Post • Jan. 24, 2023

A visitor alighting from a distant solar system might make befuddled inquiries regarding our planet’s conception of math, and ordinal numbers, and “losing.”

From Slate • Feb. 3, 2016

Word's stylistic preferences range from the irritating—the superscript "th" on ordinal numbers, the eagerness to forcibly indent any numbered list it detects—to the outright wrong.

From Slate • Apr. 11, 2012

A full stop is placed after most abbreviations, after initial letters, and after ordinal numbers in Roman characters.

From "Stops", Or How to Punctuate A Practical Handbook for Writers and Students by Allardyce, Paul

The Romans, instead of distinguishing the days of the month by the ordinal numbers, first, second, third, etc., counted backwards from three fixed points, namely, the Calends, the Nones, and the Ides.

From Our Calendar by Packer, George Nichols