sequence English · revision 5800

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1398|origins=la-med sequentia}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsiː.kwəns/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|sequentia|t=a following, succession]], perhaps partly through Old French sequence “answering verses”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[la|sequēns|t=following]], the present participle of [[m|la|sequī|t=to follow]] (see [[sequel]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from PIE [[ine-pro|*sekw-|t=to follow]].^(Etymonline) In church use, Medieval Latin sequentia partly translated Greek akolouthía “a following”, a long run of notes sung on the last syllable of the Alleluia.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In church music, a hymn sung after the Alleluia and before the Gospel: before 1398 in Barnhart, in Trevisa's translation of Bartholomew.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A connected series of things, and a run of cards in a suit, are from 1575;^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) in sequence, one after another, is also from 1575.^(OED 1989) The order of succession is from 1586, and the fact of following from 1593.^(OED 1989) The ''sequence of tenses'' in grammar is from 1848.^(OED 1989) A series of film shots forming a unit is a 20th-century sense.^(AHD) In biochemistry, the order of units in a nucleic acid is from 1959.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The verb, to arrange in sequence, is from 1954 in computing, and in biochemistry by 1970.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1398 – a liturgical hymn.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1575 – a series; a run of cards.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1586 – order of succession.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1848 – ''sequence of tenses''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1954 – the verb.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1959 – a nucleic acid sequence.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A series of related things or events in a particular order.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The order in which things follow each other.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A part of a [[film]] dealing with one episode.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Three or more playing [[card|alt=cards]] of consecutive value.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A hymn sung after the Alleluia at [[Mass]].^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To arrange in a sequence.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(biochemistry)'' To find the order of the units in a [[DNA]] or protein molecule.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sequential]]

+ * [[subsequence]]

+ * [[sequencer]]

+ * [[Cauchy sequence]]

+ * [[convergent sequence]]

+ * [[Farey sequence]]

+ * [[Fibonacci sequence]]

+ * [[main sequence]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sequel]]

+ * [[consequence]]

+ * [[sequent]]

+ * [[sue]]

+ * [[second]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}