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ordinal

noun · adjective

Simple meaning

An ordinal number such as first, second and third.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

awrduhnuhl

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IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈɔɹdənəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. An ordinal number such as first, second and third.

  2. A book used in the ordination of Anglican ministers, or in certain Roman Catholic services

adjective

  1. mathematicsof a number

    Indicating position in a sequence.

  2. taxonomy

    Pertaining to a taxon at the rank of order.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

ordinal scaleordinal dataordinal numberlimit ordinalordinal positionordinal levelordinal utilityordinal variable

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • third

    One sixtieth of a second, i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system.

  • first

    The person or thing in the first position.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • ordinancenounDerived noun

    An authoritative rule.

  • ordinationnounDerived noun · specialist

    The status of being ordained to a sacred office.

  • ordinaryadjectiveDerived adjective

    Not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree.

  • ordinarilyadverbDerived adverb

    Under normal conditions.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • ordinal numbernounCompound term

    The number designating place in an ordered sequence.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: ordinal number such as first

thirdArchaicsecond

adjective

Sense: indicating position in a sequence

nthsecondthirdnineteentheighteenthsixthseventhseventeenth

Antonyms

Sense: indicating position in a sequence

cardinal

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.