ordinal

¹

[ awr-dn-uhl ]

adjective

1. of or relating to an order, as of animals or plants.
2. of or relating to order, rank, or position in a series.

noun

1. an ordinal number or numeral.

ordinal

²

[ awr-dn-uhl ]

noun

1. a directory of ecclesiastical services.
2. a book containing the forms for the ordination of priests, consecration of bishops, etc.

ordinal

/ ˈɔːdɪnəl /

adjective

1. denoting a certain position in a sequence of numbers
2. of, relating to, or characteristic of an order in biological classification

noun

1. short for ordinal number
2. a book containing the forms of services for the ordination of ministers
3. RC Church a service book

Other Words From

• ordi·nal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordinal¹

C14: (in the sense: orderly): from Late Latin ordinalis denoting order or place in a series, from Latin ordō order

Example Sentences

The team also noted that drawings showing ordinal representations were more frequently associated with a one-step solution, even if the problem was cardinal.

From Science Daily

“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

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

In other words, Mr. Forman invited applicants to observe, collect and then make ordinal sense of exactly the same jungle of information the U.S.

From Washington Post

The sections are constructed of scraps and vignettes, fragmentary pieces of memory that hop around the time line, following their own ordinal logic.

From The New Yorker

Related Words

• figure
• statistic
• sum
• total