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 pertaining to the apparent or actual performance of data-processing operations one at a time (distinguished from parallel).
of or pertaining 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, pertaining to, or composed in serial technique.

Origin

1835-45; < Neo-Latin seriālis. See series, -al¹

Related forms

serially, adverb

nonserial, noun, adjective

nonserially, adverb

Can be confused

cereal, serial.

Examples from the web for serial

State intervention has so far failed to tackle serial criminals, while pointlessly and expensively locking up too many petty ones.
Genetic data suggest what scientists call a serial founder effect.
serial entrepreneurs could retire when they cash out of a thriving business.
Indeed, should a bank want to, it could match every note it issued against its printed serial number.
But my life doesn't overlap much with singles, serial monogamists, or divorcees.
For serial renovators, a compulsive drive to get it right.
So when you factor serial marriages into the equation the divorce rate starts looking a lot better.
One of the serial stories was about his five marriages and their consequences.
serial production in a factory is much less expensive than custom building out in the field.
Clinging onto the idea of serial monogamy is irrational thinking.

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 occur Compare parallel (sense 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

serially, adverb

Word Origin

C19: from New Latin seriālis, from Latin seriēsseries

Word Origin and History for serial

adj.

"coming in regular succession," 1840, from series + -al (1); popularized in reference to Dickens' novels, published one part at a time in periodicals (as opposed to all at once in a book). Found to be a useful word and given wide application. Serial number, indicating position in a series, first recorded 1866, originally of papers, packages, etc.; of soldiers from 1918. Serial killer is first attested 1981 (in relation to John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy), though serial had been used in connection with murders since the early 1960s. Related: Serially.

1846, from serial (adj.).

serial in Technology

1. serial communications
2. serial processor.