series definition

English series definition

Etymology

Attested from the 1610s;^[1] borrowed from Latin seriēs, from serere (“to join together, bind”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, put together, to line up”). Related to desert, insert, sermon, and sorcerer.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪə.ɹiːz/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪɹiz/, /ˈsiɹiz/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪəɹɪ.ɪz/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (US) -ɪɹiz
• Homophones: Siri's, Siris, Ceres

Noun

series (plural series or (obsolete) serieses)

1. A number of things that follow on one after the other or are connected one after the other.

   Synonyms: chain, line, sequence, stream, succession; see also Thesaurus:sequence

   A series of seemingly inconsequential events led cumulatively to the fall of the company.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. […]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain.

   • 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

     Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […].  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.

2. (broadcasting) A television or radio program which consists of several episodes that are broadcast in regular intervals

   Synonyms: show; program; season (North American English, Australian English)

   “Friends” was one of the most successful television series in recent years.

3. (Discuss⁽⁺⁾ this sense) (mathematics) The sequence of partial sums ${\displaystyle \sum _{i=1}^{n}{a_{i}}}$ of a given sequence a_i.

   The harmonic series has been much studied.

4. (cricket, baseball) A group of matches between two sides, with the aim being to win more matches than the opposition.

   The Blue Jays are playing the Yankees in a four-game series.

5. (zoology) An unranked taxon.
7. (botany) A subdivision of a genus, a taxonomic rank below that of section (and subsection) but above that of species.
8. (commerce) A parcel of rough diamonds of assorted qualities.
9. (phonology) A set of consonants that share a particular phonetic or phonological feature.

Usage notes

• (broadcasting): In North American English, a year-long group of episodes of a television or radio show is called a season, whereas the word series is a synonym of program or show.
• (mathematics): Beginning students often confuse series with sequence.

Synonyms

• serie (obsolete)

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Japanese: シリーズ (shirīzu)
• → Korean: 시리즈 (sirijeu)
• → Burmese: စီးရီး (ci:ri:)

Translations

References

Further reading

• “series”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “series”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “series”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• reises, ressie, seiser

Asturian series definition

Noun

series

1. plural of serie

Catalan series definition

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /səˈɾi.əs/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /seˈɾi.es/

Verb

series

1. second-person singular conditional form of ser

Dutch series definition

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

series

1. plural of serie

Interlingua series definition

Noun

series

1. plural of serie

Latin series definition

Etymology

From serō (“to bind”) +‎ -iēs.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈse.ri.eːs/, [ˈs̠ɛrieːs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈse.ri.es/, [ˈsɛːries]

Noun

seriēs f (genitive seriēī); fifth declension

1. a row
2. a succession
3. a series
4. a chain

Declension

Fifth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	seriēs	seriēs
Genitive	seriēī	seriērum
Dative	seriēī	seriēbus
Accusative	seriem	seriēs
Ablative	seriē	seriēbus
Vocative	seriēs	seriēs

Descendants

References

• “series”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “series”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• series in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• series in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette

Portuguese series definition

Verb

series

1. second-person singular present subjunctive of seriar

Spanish series definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseɾjes/ [ˈse.ɾjes]
• Rhymes: -eɾjes
• Syllabification: se‧ries

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

series f pl

1. plural of serie

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

series

1. second-person singular present subjunctive of seriar

Swedish series definition

Noun

series

1. indefinite genitive singular of serie

series c

1. Obsolete form of serie.