serial

[ seer-ee-uhl ]

/ ˈsɪər i əl /

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See synonyms for: serial / serials / serially on Thesaurus.com

noun

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

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

adjective

published in installments or successive parts: a serial story.

pertaining to such publication.

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

occurring in a series rather than simultaneously: serial marriage; serial murders.

effecting or producing a series of similar actions: The police think a serial killer is responsible for five homicides in this city last month.

Computers.

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

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

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Origin of serial

From the New Latin word seriālis, dating back to 1835–45. See series, -al¹

OTHER WORDS FROM serial

se·ri·al·ly, adverbnon·se·ri·al, noun, adjectivenon·se·ri·al·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH serial

cereal, serial

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use serial in a sentence

They are once again an unlikely perfect pair in this intricate puzzler about Sam Tabor, an addled Brooklyn outsider artist who hires Smith, surprisingly, to prove he’s a serial killer.
Love suspense? Here are 5 new thrillers that will have you on the edge of your seat.|Richard Lipez|November 30, 2020|Washington Post
Goshen is a serial entrepreneur as well as a veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces’ Unit 8200, the main signals intelligence division of the Israeli military.
Startup cofounded by A.I. heavy hitters debuts editing tool it hopes will ‘transform writing’|Jeremy Kahn|October 27, 2020|Fortune
Carlino’s father, who began modestly as a florist in Philadelphia, was a serial entrepreneur who sent his son to central Pennsylvania to oversee some of the family businesses, including the racetrack.
Valuation: Casino stocks got clobbered by COVID-19. This one is now an attractive bet|matthewheimer|October 18, 2020|Fortune
Mason was an aspiring model and serial entrepreneur who sold homemade wooden crosses door-to-door as a child and graduated to selling gloves for gamers in high school, Mason had moved to New York when he was signed to Ford Models.
PearPop lets TikTok celebrities monetize by sharing shoutouts and screentime with fans|Jonathan Shieber|October 16, 2020|TechCrunch

Since Brazilian blood banks retain samples of donated blood, they were able to go back and look for coronavirus antibodies at several points in time—a technique known as serial sampling.
A city in Brazil where covid-19 ran amok may be a ‘sentinel’ for the rest of the world|Amy Nordrum|September 22, 2020|MIT Technology Review
And so the serially unpopular Hollande was robbed of a rare break from public opprobrium.
New Phone-Tapping Scandal Plagues Sarkozy|Tracy McNicoll|March 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Everything's serially correlated with itself and correlated every which way with everything else.
Rogoff and Reinhart Respond|Megan McArdle|April 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He savaged Boehner and his own party serially throughout this press conference.
Remind Me Not to Piss Off Chris Christie|Michael Tomasky|January 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He gives the wrong date for Sabin's book, which began to appear serially in 1875 and was published in 1877.
A History of Bibliographies of Bibliographies|Archer Taylor
The segments of the body, as they follow one behind the other, are also serially alike, as is plainly seen in the abdomen or tail.
On the Genesis of Species|St. George Mivart
Chapters from this book, appropriately illustrated, first appeared serially in Scribner's Magazine.
E.P. Roe: Reminiscences of his Life|Mary A. Roe
This book I endeavoured to publish serially by posting the MS. to the editors of various magazines for their consideration.
The Idler Magazine, Volume III, April 1893|Various
Because of the condensers serially in the telephone line, voice currents can pass through it, but direct currents can not.
Cyclopedia of Telephony and Telegraphy, Vol. 2|Kempster Miller

British Dictionary definitions for serial

serial

/ (ˈsɪərɪəl) /

noun

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

a publication, usually regularly issued and consecutively numbered

adjective

of, relating to, or resembling a series

published or presented as a serial

of or relating to such publication or presentation

computing of or operating on items of information, instructions, etc, in the order in which they occurCompare parallel (def. 5)

of, relating to, or using the techniques of serialism

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 numbersSee also ordering

Derived forms of serial

serially, adverb

Word Origin for serial

C19: from New Latin seriālis, from Latin seriēs series

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

serial

Origin of serial

OTHER WORDS FROM serial

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH serial

Words related to serial

How to use serial in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for serial

Derived forms of serial

Word Origin for serial