Etymologically
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sequential

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 23:52. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • /səˈkwɛntʃəl/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English sequence + -al, on the pattern of consequential,[2][3] or directly from Late Latin sequentia (“sequence”) with the English suffix.[4][5][6] Dictionary.com takes it from sequent and -ial.[7] The Latin noun is formed from sequēns, the present participle of sequor (“to follow”), the source of sequence.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In medicine, following as a secondary condition after an earlier disease: 1822, in J. M. Good's Study of Medicine.[4][6][3] Etymonline dates the general sense, "following in succession", to 1816,[5] and Dictionary.com dates the word to 1815–25.[7]

Semantic evolution

The medical sense, a sequela, was the first; the general sense of forming a sequence followed in 1854, and "characterized by the regular sequence of its parts" in 1844.[4][2] In the 20th century the word was taken up by several technical fields: computing, for operations carried out one after another (1951), television scanning and colour systems (1940s) and electronics, for logic circuits whose output depends on the order of the inputs (1954).[4]

Timeline

  • 1822 – in pathology, following as a secondary disease.[4]
  • 1844 – characterized by a regular sequence of parts; continuous.[4]
  • 1854 – following as a sequel; of several things, forming a sequence.[4]
  • 1899 – resultant, consequent.[4]
  • 1951 – in computing, operating serially.[4]
  • 1954 – in electronics, of a logic circuit depending on the order of its inputs.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Forming or following a sequence; consecutive or serial: The tickets have sequential numbers.[6][8][4]
  2. Arranged in a regular, logical order: a sequential account of events.[6][4]
  3. In medicine, occurring as a sequela of an earlier disease or injury.[6][4]
  4. In computing, operating on or reading data one item after another, in order.[4][6]

Word family

  • sequentiality
  • sequentially

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins