serial

American  

[seer-ee-uhl] / ˈsɪər i əl /

noun

serials plural

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 (distinguished from 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 (distinguished from 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

Derived Forms

• nonserial
  noun
• nonserially
  adverb
• serially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• serials
  plural

Etymology

Origin of serial

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

Explanation

Serial means arranged in a series. If you get a serial number with your new phone, that's a number assigned to the phone when it was made, to distinguish it from all the other phones. Serial has nothing do to with breakfast (that's cereal). It means "in regular succession." If you make a deposit into your savings every week without fail, those are serial payments. You might not recognize grandma after her serial plastic surgeries. A serial killer kills multiple times in similar ways. If you publish a magazine that comes out periodically, you could call it a serial. And your favorite recurring show on TV is a serial too.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

serial serials

“This guy is a serial winner. I can also tell you how hard it is to have a lot of alphas and make sure that only one will be the alpha.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

The serial election candidate Count Binface is standing in the Clacton by-election, triggered by the constituency's MP, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who is standing again.

From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026

The famous Buddhist Angulimala Sutta tells a story of a serial killer who is redeemed by the Buddha and becomes a righteous monk.

From Slate ● Jul. 10, 2026

Still, when Danielle planned to fly to Minnesota to meet Drew, Susan required a video call to suss out his intentions—and make sure he wasn’t a serial killer, Danielle joked.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

I had been so enthralled by reading the serial stories in the magazine supplement that I had not read a single issue of the newspaper.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

It allowed him to indulge his love of classic cliffhanger serials, and he tapped Spielberg to direct “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026

So like the serials of the silent era, we’re left, for the moment at least, with a cliffhanger.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025

“Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad” premiered during its run; twist-heavy serials like “Scandal” and “Game of Thrones” delivered the kind of OMG moments that got them trending regularly.

From New York Times ● Jul. 10, 2023

Much like the old serials that the new Indiana Jones movie is mimicking.

From Slate ● Jul. 5, 2023

The serials are the best part of the paper, anyhow.

From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland

Related Words

• sequential