ordinallyadv.
/ˈɔːdᵻnl̩i/, /ˈɔːdᵻnəli/, /ˈɔːdn̩l̩i/, /ˈɔːdn̩əli/, U.S. /ˈɔrd(ə)nəli/ With regard to, or at the level of, orders in a taxonomic system; according to an ordinal number, system, etc.; on an ordinal scale; with regard to order.
ΚΠ
1860 Edinb. Rev. Apr. 502 Is the fact of one animal giving birth to another not merely specifically, but generically and ordinally, distinct, a solitary one?
1885 Amer. Naturalist 19 878 We find then that the entire change from the generalized hexapod to the ordinally specialized hexapod was made in the interval between the close of the Palæozoic period and the middle, we may say, of the Mesozoic.
1903 B. Russell Princ. Math. xxxvi. 297 Cantor proves that any series M satisfying the above conditions is ordinally similar to the number-continuum, i.e. the real numbers from 0 to 1, both inclusive.
1931 Science 22 May 563/2 The matter is arranged ordinally, beginning with the Acarina, without regard to chronological sequence.
1950 Biometrics 6 1 Subjective appraisals may be quantified by ordinally ranking an entire test series or by scoring each sample individually.
1992 P. J. Duffley Eng. Infinitive (BNC) 147 It is proposed here that the infinitive is not totally devoid of a representation of person but contains a ‘generalized person’ which represents a support that has not yet been defined ordinally..as first, second or third.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1860