or·di·nal
ˈȯr-də-nəl 
ˈȯrd-nəl
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
2
[Late Latin ordinalis, from ordinalis, adjective]
: ordinal number
1
: of a specified order or rank in a series
2
: of or relating to a taxonomic order
Examples of ordinal in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Korok Ray, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
If there were several sisters, ordinals could be used, Claudia Tertia, Claudia Quarta, etc.
—National Geographic, 4 Nov. 2019
Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
At least one project seeks to tie ordinal inscriptions to real megawatts and share monthly mining revenue with token holders.
—Dave Birnbaum, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Wikipedia, typically a good authority on an album’s ordinal position, confirmed my initial suspicions.
—Justin Curto, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
Recently, the network has seen a surge in a specific type of transaction: ordinal inscriptions.
—Ayush Gupta, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
East First Avenue has both a numerical designation and an ordinal one.
—John Kelly, Washington Post, 31 May 2023
The assumption is that something of the essence of institutions, public or private, small or large, religious or not, can be distilled by crunching data and assembling lists with ordinal numbers.
—Susan Svrluga and Nick Anderson, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Jan. 2023
The only purpose of quantification was to enable [significance testing] to underwrite the ordinal theoretical prediction.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2021
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Noun
Even the most ardent advocates of Taproot and SegWit would not have predicted ordinals and inscriptions.
—Korok Ray, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
If there were several sisters, ordinals could be used, Claudia Tertia, Claudia Quarta, etc.
—National Geographic, 4 Nov. 2019
Adjective
At that time, a string of medical school and health system leaders spoke out against U.S. News' ordinal rankings and even Leapfrog's hospital grades.
—Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025
At least one project seeks to tie ordinal inscriptions to real megawatts and share monthly mining revenue with token holders.
—Dave Birnbaum, Forbes.com, 21 Apr. 2025
Wikipedia, typically a good authority on an album’s ordinal position, confirmed my initial suspicions.
—Justin Curto, Vulture, 6 Mar. 2025
Recently, the network has seen a surge in a specific type of transaction: ordinal inscriptions.
—Ayush Gupta, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
East First Avenue has both a numerical designation and an ordinal one.
—John Kelly, Washington Post, 31 May 2023
The assumption is that something of the essence of institutions, public or private, small or large, religious or not, can be distilled by crunching data and assembling lists with ordinal numbers.
—Susan Svrluga and Nick Anderson, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Jan. 2023
The only purpose of quantification was to enable [significance testing] to underwrite the ordinal theoretical prediction.
—Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Ordinal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ordinal. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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