ordinal
1 Americanadjective
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of or relating to an order, as of animals or plants.
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of or relating to order, rank, or position in a series.
noun
noun
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a directory of ecclesiastical services.
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a book containing the forms for the ordination of priests, consecration of bishops, etc.
adjective
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denoting a certain position in a sequence of numbers
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of, relating to, or characteristic of an order in biological classification
noun
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short for ordinal number
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a book containing the forms of services for the ordination of ministers
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RC Church a service book
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ordinal1
1590–1600; < Late Latin ōrdinālis in order equivalent to Latin ōrdin- (stem of ōrdō ) order + -ālis -al 1
Origin of ordinal2
1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin ōrdināle, noun use of neuter of ōrdinālis in order. See ordinal 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There are 25 Helena Drives in Brentwood, each a cul-de-sac preceded by a different ordinal number — 7th, 19th, etc.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2024
The contexts of some problems called on the cardinal properties of numbers -- the quantity of elements in a set -- others on their ordinal properties -- their position in an ordered list.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2024
“The only way a person could determine an elector’s ordinal position is by personally observing that elector cast his or her ballot.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
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
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 George Nichols Packer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
