serial

[ seer-ee-uh l ]

/ ˈsɪər i əl /

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.

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, adverb non·se·ri·al, noun, adjective non·se·ri·al·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH serial

cereal serial

Words nearby serial

sergius iii, sergius iv, sergiyev posad, sergt, seri, serial, serial correlation, serial extraction, serial killer, serial monogamy, serial number

British Dictionary definitions for serial killer (1 of 2)

serial killer

noun

a person who carries out a series of murders

British Dictionary definitions for serial killer (2 of 2)

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 occur Compare 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 numbers See also ordering

Derived forms of serial

serially, adverb

Word Origin for serial

C19: from New Latin seriālis, from Latin seriēs series

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

serial

noun

adjective

Origin of serial

OTHER WORDS FROM serial

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH serial

Words nearby serial

British Dictionary definitions for serial killer (1 of 2)

noun

British Dictionary definitions for serial killer (2 of 2)

noun

adjective

Derived forms of serial

Word Origin for serial

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

serial

noun

adjective

Origin of serial

OTHER WORDS FROM serial

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH serial

Words nearby serial

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for serial killer (1 of 2)

noun

British Dictionary definitions for serial killer (2 of 2)

noun

adjective

Derived forms of serial

Word Origin for serial

British Dictionary definitions for serial killer (1 of 2)