serial

American  

[seer-ee-uhl] / ˈsɪər i əl /

noun

1. anything published, broadcast, etc., in short installments at regular intervals, as a novel appearing in successive issues of a magazine.

2. Library Science. a publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designation and intended to be continued indefinitely.

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adjective

1. published in installments or successive parts.

   a serial story.

2. pertaining to such publication.

3. pertaining to, arranged in, or consisting of a series.

4. occurring in a series rather than simultaneously.

   serial marriage; serial murders.

5. effecting or producing a series of similar actions.

   The police think a serial killer is responsible for five homicides in this city last month.

6. Computers.

   1. of or relating to the apparent or actual performance of data-processing operations one at a time (parallel ).

   2. of or relating to the transmission or processing of each part of a whole in sequence, as each bit of a byte or each byte of a computer word (parallel ).

7. Music. of, relating to, or composed in serial technique.

serial British  

/ ˈsɪərɪəl /

noun

1. a novel, play, etc, presented in separate instalments at regular intervals

2. a publication, usually regularly issued and consecutively numbered

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or resembling a series

2. published or presented as a serial

3. of or relating to such publication or presentation

4. computing of or operating on items of information, instructions, etc, in the order in which they occur Compare parallel

5. of, relating to, or using the techniques of serialism

6. logic maths (of a relation) connected, transitive, and asymmetric, thereby imposing an order on all the members of the domain, as less than on the natural numbers See also ordering

Other Word Forms

• nonserial noun
• nonserially adverb
• serially adverb

Etymology

Origin of serial

From the New Latin word seriālis, dating back to 1835–45. See series, -al ¹

Example Sentences

The serial was so popular, it was later published as the book Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the greatest publishing sensation of the nineteenth century.

From Literature

Investors expect the serial defaulting nation to come back to markets this year.

From Barron's

Prosecutors at trial painted Goldstein as a serial liar who misled everyone around him to evade taxes and to conceal his gambling debts.

From The Wall Street Journal

NPR reviewed the unique serial numbers on the pages of the Epstein files in their investigation, which showed that many pages catalogued by the DOJ are not shared publicly.

From Salon

In these streaming, serial times, a critic may have to watch as many as 10 hours of a show before putting fingers to keyboard, pen to paper, pointed stick to clay tablet.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• sequential