sequence

American  

[see-kwuhns] / ˈsi kwəns /

noun

sequences plural

1. the following of one thing after another; succession.

2. order of succession.

   a list of books in alphabetical sequence.

   Synonyms:

   arrangement

3. a continuous or connected series.

   a sonnet sequence.

4. something that follows; a subsequent event; result; consequence.

   Synonyms:

   sequel, outcome

5. Music. a melodic or harmonic pattern repeated three or more times at different pitches with or without modulation.

6. Liturgy. a hymn sometimes sung after the gradual and before the gospel; prose.

7. Movies. a series of related scenes or shots, as those taking place in one locale or at one time, that make up one episode of the film narrative.

8. Cards. a series of three or more cards following one another in order of value, especially of the same suit.

9. Genetics. the linear order of monomers in a polymer, as nucleotides in DNA or amino acids in a protein.

10. Mathematics. a set whose elements have an order similar to that of the positive integers; a map from the positive integers to a given set.

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verb (used with object)

sequences, present (3rd person singular) sequenced, past participle, past sequencing present participle

1. to place in a sequence.

2. Biochemistry. to determine the order of (chemical units in a polymer chain), especially nucleotides in DNA or RNA or amino acids in a protein.

sequence British  

/ ˈsiːkwəns /

noun

1. an arrangement of two or more things in a successive order

2. the successive order of two or more things

   chronological sequence

3. a sequentially ordered set of related things or ideas

4. an action or event that follows another or others

5. 1. cards a set of three or more consecutive cards, usually of the same suit

   2. bridge a set of two or more consecutive cards

6. music an arrangement of notes or chords repeated several times at different pitches

7. maths

   1. an ordered set of numbers or other mathematical entities in one-to-one correspondence with the integers 1 to n

   2. an ordered infinite set of mathematical entities in one-to-one correspondence with the natural numbers

8. a section of a film constituting a single continuous uninterrupted episode

9. biochem the unique order of amino acids in the polypeptide chain of a protein or of nucleotides in the polynucleotide chain of DNA or RNA

10. RC Church another word for prose

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verb

1. to arrange in a sequence

2. biochem to determine the order of the units comprising (a protein, nucleic acid, genome, etc)

sequence Scientific  

/ sē′kwəns /

1. A set of quantities ordered in the same manner as the positive integers, in which there is always the same relation between each quantity and the one succeeding it. A sequence can be finite, such as {1, 3, 5, 7, 9}, or it can be infinite, such as {1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, … 1/n}.

2. Also called progression

3. The order of subunits that make up a polymer, especially the order of nucleotides in a nucleic acid or of the amino acids in a protein.

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1. To determine the order of subunits of a polymer.

Synonym Usage

See series.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• undersequence
  noun
• unsequenced
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sequences
  plural

Participles

• sequencing
  present
• sequenced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sequence
  simple
• sequences
  simple
• have sequenced
  perfect
• has sequenced
  perfect
• am sequencing
  progressive
• are sequencing
  progressive
• is sequencing
  progressive
• have been sequencing
  perfect progressive
• has been sequencing
  perfect progressive

Past

• sequenced
  simple
• had sequenced
  perfect
• was sequencing
  progressive
• were sequencing
  progressive
• had been sequencing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sequence
  simple
• will have sequenced
  perfect
• will be sequencing
  progressive
• will have been sequencing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sequence

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Late Latin sequentia, equivalent to sequ- (stem of sequī “to follow”) + -entia noun suffix; see -ence

Explanation

When things come in sequence, they come in a specific order. It could be a chronological sequence, a sequence following a pattern (red-blue-brown, red-blue-brown), or a cause-and-effect sequence. Sequence can also be a verb. When you sequence something, you put it in order. The prom committee had the task of sequencing dance music––even if playing "Celebrate" as the final dance and not the first felt out of sequence to the DJ, it was their call.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sequence sequences sequenced sequencing

"Is it possible some of this diversity emerged after the invasion? It is, but we would have to sequence snakes from the native populations to know for sure," Gray says.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

There are conflicting accounts of the sequence of events in the northern village of Tal.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

The sequence of events leading up to it matter:

From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026

Fewer fires, it said, "interrupts a sequence of years of fire expansion and returns the country to a historically lower level of burned area."

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

Once you had both keys, you needed to perform a complicated sequence of turns and rotations to open the door.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

This enzyme cuts prohormones at specific amino acid sequences and has previously been linked to obesity in humans.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

Offerings include Lucas’ student films, as well as montage sequences by Vorkapich for movies like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”; silent films by Georges Méliès, Émile Cohl, W.K.L.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

He said GenAI workflows have now been used on roughly 300 Netflix titles, mostly in post-production, adding: "We're leveraging GenAI for really complicated shots and sequences."

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

But you can divide lots of other sequences of change by time to arrive at a “speed” or rate of, say, technological invention or evolution of antibiotic resistance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

Criteria like this can be used to determine how likely it is that sequences of heads and tails or Xs and Os or hits and misses are randomly generated.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

It's sequenced with another cross-generational saga, The Test, where Madonna and her eldest daughter, Lourdes Leon, thrash out their differences over a spacious, trancey instrumental.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

In Konik’s view, the announcement signals that the restructuring is progressing “on a thoughtful, sequenced basis under Hill, with the right operators being installed at the right time.”

From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026

Scientists sequenced DNA from tissue samples that veterinarians had previously collected for diagnostic purposes.

From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026

He said he expected refined products to be “secondary” and be sequenced in over the next eight to 18 months.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026

Indeed, as predicted, when the gene encoding the hemoglobin B chain was later identified and sequenced in sickle-cell patients, there was a single change: one triplet in DNA—GAG—had changed to another—GTG.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Part of the difficulty has to do with gene sequencing, he explained.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

This change didn’t affect how the CDC detects and investigates outbreaks; for that it relies on a separate reporting system that collects case and genetic sequencing information from labs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

The team later reexamined the preserved samples using histopathology, molecular testing and DNA sequencing.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

The diagnostics division of the Swiss pharma group is launching Axelios 1, a new sequencing product that has a cost and speed advantage over Illumina’s rival product NovaSeq X Plus, the analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

Fluent writers have these constructions at their fingertips to simultaneously control the content of a sentence and the sequencing of its words.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• arrangement
• array
• progression
• string