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ordinal

UK/ˈɔː.dɪ.nəl/Canada, US/ˈɔɹ.dɪ.nəl/Australia/ˈoː.dɪ.nəl/

adjective

What it means

  1. not comparablemathematicsIndicating position in a sequence.

    "Three" is a cardinal number, while "third" is the corresponding ordinal number.

  2. not comparablebiologyPertaining to a taxon at the rank of order.
  3. not comparablenauticalIntercardinal.

In a sentence

"Three" is a cardinal number, while "third" is the corresponding ordinal number.

Where it comes from

  1. Latinōrdinālis
  2. Englishordinal

Borrowed from Latin ōrdinālis, adjective formed from noun ōrdō (“order”), + adjective suffix -ālis.

Full entry for ordinal →

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