ordinal

noun or·di·nal \ ˈȯrd-nəl , ˈȯr-də-nəl \

Definition of ordinal

1 capitalized

[Middle English, from Medieval Latin ordinale, from Late Latin, neuter of ordinalis]

: a book of rites for the ordination of deacons, priests, and bishops

[Late Latin ordinalis, from ordinalis, adjective]

: ordinal number

See ordinal defined for kids

First Known Use of ordinal

14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Other Number-Related Terms

jubilee, myriad, quarantine, score, twain

ordinal

adjective

Definition of ordinal

1 : of a specified order or rank in a series

2 : of or relating to a taxonomic order

Recent Examples of ordinal from the Web

The second is ordinal-linguistic personification, or OLP, in which different parts of a sequence — days of the week, but also things like letters of the alphabet and months of the year — are each imbued with their own unique personalities.

— cari romm, The Cut, "I Can’t Stop Reading This Twitter Thread on People Who Literally See Time," 10 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ordinal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.