series

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈsɪə.riːz/, US /ˈsɪr.iːz/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin seriēs (“row, chain, sequence, succession”),^[2][3][4] from serere (“to join, link, bind together”),^[2][5][6] from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to line up”).^[2][3] Merriam-Webster relates it to Greek εἴρειν (eírein, “to string together”) and ὅρμος (hórmos, “chain, necklace”).^[7][8] Middle English had borrowed the word earlier as serie (“sequence of thoughts”), in the late 14th century.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A number of things of one kind following one another in order: 1594 according to the HTOED,^[9] 1610s according to Etymonline^[2] and 1611 according to Merriam-Webster.^[8]

Semantic evolution

A set of books published one after another with something in common has been a series since 1711.^[2] The baseball sense, a set of games between the same teams, is from 1862,^[2] and a set of radio or television programmes with the same characters from 1949.^[2] From 1596 to 1844 the word could also mean the thread of a narrative.^[9] The plural is the same as the singular, though the Shorter Oxford records an old plural serieses.^[4] Seriatim is from the 17th century and serial from the 19th, first of a story published in parts.^[6]

Timeline

• 1594 – a succession.^[9]
• 1610s – a set of things in order.^[2]
• 1711 – a set of books.^[2]
• 1862 – a set of baseball games.^[2]
• 1949 – a series of broadcasts.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A number of similar things or events coming one after another; a succession.
2. A set of related books, stamps, coins or the like.
3. A set of radio or television programmes with the same characters or theme.
4. A set of games between the same teams.
5. (mathematics) The sum of a sequence of terms.
6. (geology) A group of rock formations closely related in time of origin.

Word family

• miniseries
• subseries
• superseries
• series-wound
• actinium series
• decay series
• alternating series
• binomial series

Related words

• serial
• seriate
• seriation
• seriatim
• sequence

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that series is both singular and plural: a series of lectures is scheduled, but two series of lectures are scheduled.^[10] It contrasts series with succession, progression, sequence, chain, train and string.^[10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin