seriesn.

Brit.

/ˈsɪəriːz/,

/ˈsɪərɪz/, U.S.

/ˈsɪriz/

Inflections: Plural unchanged, (rare) serieses.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin seriēs.

Etymology: < classical Latin seriēs row, continuous line, succession, sequence, line of ancestors or descendants < serere to link, to join, to string together ( < the same Indo-European base as ancient Greek εἴρειν to string together) + -iēs , suffix forming nouns. Compare French série (1715), Spanish serie (1499), Portuguese série (1686), Italian serie (1563); also German Serie (14th cent. in Middle High German as serje ‘row, stripe, succession’, subsequently reborrowed in early 18th cent.), Swedish serie (1661). Compare earlier serie n.In the specific linguistic uses in sense 15b, and probably also in sense 15a, after German Reihe row n.¹ (1822 or earlier in sense 15a; 1830 or earlier in sense 15b, apparently originally in the compound Ablautsreihe, later also Ablautreihe, ‘gradation series’). N.E.D. (1912) also gives the pronunciation (sī^ə·riˌīz) /ˈsɪərɪiːz/.

I. General uses.

a. The fact of forming a sequence or succession; the order in which things are placed within such a sequence or succession; sequence. Now rare except as implied in in series at Phrases.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > order of succession

ordera1382

processa1387

course1558

sequence1592

series1594

the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > succession or following in time > [noun] > sequence or order of succession

entailc1380

sequence1592

series1594

sequel1615

succession1708

1594 W. Clerke Triall of Bastardie ii. 10 Their numeration remaineth nowe to be spoken of, their Series, their order.

1651 N. Bacon Contin. Hist. Disc. Govt. 223 Nor [are] they good Historians, that will tell you the bare journall of Action, without the Series of occasion.

1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. iii. §2 It seems impossible that any thing should really alter the series of things, without the same power which at first produced them.

1760 tr. Chronol. Diss. Reigns Kings Israel & Judah in tr. S. J. Baumgarten Suppl. Eng. Universal Hist. (new ed.) I. 20 If some mistake or other has been committed, by placing an event somewhat later or earlier than it really happened, I am persuaded it is not material, nor affects the series of the whole.

1781 S. Johnson Watts in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VIII. 12 The series of his works I am not able to deduce.

1820 S. Turner Hist. Anglo-Saxons (ed. 3) III. ix. vii. 463 The correct series of the connected events..had not then become known.

1845 Intellect. Repository Oct. 367 This little preface extends over two leaves, not numbered in the series of the book.

1998 Infoworld 23 Feb. 113/2 It's really about trying..to get things in the series in which they actually occurred in life.

†b. The connected sequence of thoughts or ideas of which a discourse, text, etc., is composed. Also: a train of thought, line of argument, etc. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > natural or logical sequence

series1596

consequentness1644

sequency1826

sequence1828

consecutiveness1833

sequentiality1883

the mind > language > speech > narration > [noun] > a narrative or account > thread or sequence of

series1596

string1833

1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. O2 He did for him that eloquent post-script for the Plague Bills, where he talkes of the series the classes & the premisses.

1600 W. Cornwallis Ess. I. xv. sig. K2^v There is yet something else to be noted besides the Series of the History.

1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (iii. 2) 571 Many will say, it is great pitie of the man, I speake it with griefe, but the series and tenor of the speach sheweth it a merciles pitie.

1646 R. Crashaw Musicks Duell in Steps to Temple 104 The plyant Series of her slippery song.

1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 549. ¶1 I am engaged in this Series of Thought by a Discourse which I had..with..Sir Andrew Freeport.

a1758 J. Ward Syst. Oratory (1759) I. 290 It assists the hearers to carry on the series of the discourse in their mind, which is a great advantage to the memory.

1797 M. Robinson Walsingham IV. xci. 293 The day passed in a gloomy series of thought, which even the eccentricity of my pupil could not enliven.

1844 J. J. G. Wilkinson tr. E. Swedenborg Animal Kingdom II. ii. 346 This subject is explained in detail in the following pages, in the series of the argument.

a. A number of people in succession who have a position, characteristic, etc., in common; spec. (esp. in early use) a number of people who successively hold the same office; (also) †those belonging to a particular line of descent, a family line (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent

linec1386

descent?a1400

pedigree1440

series1599

Welsh pedigree1615

bloodline1658

family linea1694

stem-line1892

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > of persons

series1599

1599 J. Sprint in T. Storer Life & Death Wolsey sig. B2^v Among the Series of this learned traine, O Storer liue, and grace them with thy witte.

1625 T. Godwin Moses & Aaron i. v. 15 Aaron, and those that issued from his loynes (in whom the series of Priests was continued).

1638 T. Nabbes Totenham Court ii. i. 14 To make the series of their Families Spread in so many glorious divisions.

1656 T. Blount Glossographia Series,..an issue or descent of kindred.

1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 287. ¶6 Look into the Historian I have mentioned, or into any Series of Absolute Princes.

1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1776 II. 16 [Johnson:] Entails are good, because it is good to preserve in a country, serieses of men, to whom the people are accustomed to look up as to their leaders.

1855 Universalist Q. & Gen. Rev. Oct. 432 Following down the series of visitors to that country in chronological order..enables us to see what they saw.

1880 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 19 Mar. 382/1 From that time, the series of Secretaries was continued without any break.

1936 H. Belloc Characters Reformation 37 All those who managed him..despised him... That was true of the whole series of those who ‘ran’ him.

1962 Listener 31 May 935/2 His mother has never been married, has lived for some years at a time with a series of ‘uncles’ who have been the fathers of these siblings.

2000 Daily Tel. 21 Dec. 16/1 We sharpened our presentation before a series of enthusiastic business angels and venture capitalists.

b. A number of discrete things of one kind (esp. events or actions) following one another in succession over time, or in order of appearance or presentation.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession

row?1510

processiona1564

sequencea1575

succession1579

pomp1595

suite1597

rosary1604

sequel1615

series1618

rope1621

success1632

concatenation1652

sorites1664

string1713

chain1791

course1828

serie1840

daisy chain1856

nexus1858

catena1862

litany1961

the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > succession or following in time > [noun] > a succession, series, or sequence

suit1406

sequencea1575

train1606

series1618

track1681

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > of actions, conditions, or events

gradation1549

continuance1605

series1618

chain1696

1618 G. Chapman tr. Hesiod Georgicks ii. 455 The noisome gales,..that incense the seas And raise together in one series Ioues Autumne dashes.

1646 J. Howell Lustra Ludovici 20 So was his whole life attended with a series of good successes.

1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. i. i. 1 All men can reason to some degree..but where there is need of a long series of Reasons, there most men wander out of the way.

1713 H. Felton Diss. Reading Classics 174 The worst Province an Historian can fall upon, is a Series of barren Times, in which nothing remarkable happeneth.

1765 W. Ward Ess. Gram. iv. iv. 167 Several participles cannot conveniently be used so as to affect every part of long serieses of words immediately.

1797 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 514/1 These different heights of tide are observed to succeed each other in a regular series... This series is completed in about 15 days... Two serieses are completed in the exact time of a lunation.

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. vi. 48 What a hoping People he had, judge by the fact, and series of facts, now to be noted.

1864 C. Babbage Passages Life Philosopher 46 Another series of experiments were..made.

1912 ‘Saki’ Unbearable Bassington xii. 219 This great stroke of good luck..had been thrust aside by an act or series of acts of wanton paltry folly.

1958 W. S. Churchill Hist. Eng.-speaking Peoples IV. v A more immediate cause of the rising was a series of defeats and reverses suffered by the British.

1987 M. Das Cyclones i. 2 They held another series of meetings.

2011 New Yorker 14 Feb. 95/3 He had a series of liaisons, each of which he confessed.

†3. A catalogue or list, esp. of people. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > record > list > [noun]

tableOE

scorec1325

billa1340

calendar?a1400

legendc1400

librarya1450

Ragmanc1450

Ragman rollc1450

cataloguea1464

repertory1542

scrowa1545

bedroll?1552

roll1565

file1566

state1582

inventory1589

brief1600

series1601

counter-roll1603

list1604

muster roll1605

cense1615

pinax1625

repertoirec1626

diagram1631

recensiona1638

repertorium1667

vocabulary1694

albe1697

enumeration1725

screed1748

album1753

tableau1792

roll-call1833

shopping list1923

laundry list1958

remainder list1977

1601 F. Godwin Catal. Bishops of Eng. 393 The series or Catalogue of the Bishops of Rochester from Beornmod to Siward..is but very maymed and vnperfect.

1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso 167 Some Vertuosi..made a long, and an exact series of many abuses which reigned in that State.

1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection 60 in Justice Vindicated It is not my purpose to relate a series and catalogue of all the British Kings to the Saxon Monarchs.

1736 Universal Hist. I. i. vi. 407 We shall subjoin a series of the kings of the different kingdoms of this country, so far as we can collect them.

4. A number or set of physical objects of one kind ranged in a line, usually either contiguously or at more or less regular intervals; a row or continued spatial succession of similar objects.In early use sometimes: spec. †a continuous run of masonry or building (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > [noun] > a line or row > of things of the same kind

series1611

bank1777

1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. Ll8^v A very faire architectonical Machine.., in which are three degrees, whereof each contayneth a faire Statue... At the very toppe of this rowe or series of worke is errected a most excellent effigies of a Cocke.

1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes II. x. xii. 1828 Each of the foure Steeples..had..three distinct rowes of Lampes..[and] three subdiuided rowes or series that pertained to the..pertition[s].

1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 163 For five hundred paces it every way gives a series of all sorts of Persian fruits and flowers.

1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. Bentivoglio Compl. Hist. Warrs Flanders ii. iii. 225 On the flanks of these [stockades] towards the upper part a series of Parapets were raised.

1726 A. Monro Anat. Humane Bones 181 That Protuberance..is called the Spinal Process, from which this whole Series of Bones has got its Name.

1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. x. 136 She..alighted safely in an extensive garden, resembling more an English pleasure ground, than a series of French parterres.

1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xi. 183 The series of squares called Belgravia.

1872 H. C. Wood Contrib. Hist. Freshwater Algæ 68 Cells mostly arranged in a simple or double series in the filament.

1925 P. Power Early Christian Ireland ii. 22 On the inside the little building is roofed..by a barrel vault, between which and the outer stone roof there is an overcroft, or series of very small rooms.

1974 J. Gardner Nickel Mountain iii. i. 94 Black telephone poles stood out sharply against the gray all around them, pole after pole, a series winding downward as if forever.

2007 R. Vincent Stray xvii. 307 ‘What's your pleasure?’ Parker asked, lining up a series of bottles on the faded Formica countertop.

†a. A continued or unfolding course of events; an onward progression of time, actions, etc. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > continuity or uninterruptedness > [noun] > continuous succession > a continuous series or course

seriousnessc1487

continuity1601

train1606

series1613

thread1642

continuum1650

clue1656

run1709

1613 R. Dallington Briefe Inference Guicciardines Digression 39 in Aphorismes Ciuill & Militarie Thus by a long series and tract of time, hath our Author brought vs from the infancie of the Church [printed Chuch]..to the yeare of our Lord 1400.

1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια 152 The series both of fate, and of fortune.

1664 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania: 2nd Pt. vi. 244 To devote the Series of their whole Life to the Divine Honour.

1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey I. iii. 140 How trace the tedious series of our fate?

1772 E. Burke Corr. (1844) I. 373 A more decent..and prudent series of proceeding.

1805 T. Lindley Narr. Voy. to Brasil 11 His life had been a series of industry.

1816 J. Austen Emma II. iv. 62 After a series of what had appeared to him strong encouragement.

1883 R. L. Stevenson Silverado Squatters 249 The hours themselves were marked out from each other only by the series of our own affairs.

b. A state, period, or spell of a continuing phenomenon, esp. a particular type of weather. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > [noun] > spell of weather

season1608

slatcha1625

set1633

fit1690

series1723

spell1728

1723 J. Hodgson Syst. Math. II. v. iii. 282 Twilights..are of a longer duration..after a Series of hot Days than after a Series of cold Weather.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson i. x. 98 We had a series of as favourable weather, as could well be expected.

1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. i. 111 Those..who have endured a long series of thirst.

1814 J. Austen Mansfield Park II. xi. 245 They were now a miserable trio, confined within doors by a series of rain and snow, with nothing to do and no variety to hope for.

1871 E. M. Pearson & L. E. McLaughlin Our Adventures I. xvi. 340 During the month we were at Sedan we had an almost unbroken series of cloudless weather, only one day of rain.

1902 Louisiana Planter & Sugar Manufacturer 15 Feb. 101/1 All the indications point to the approach of a series of the same weather we have had for the past two weeks.

6. A set of objects of the same kind which differ progressively in size or some other respect, or have a recognized order of enumeration or a constant relation between successive members. Also: a number of measurements, magnitudes, etc., which can be formed into a progressive order or sequence.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > a number of magnitudes viewed as

series1776

the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > group > set of things to be used or made together > differing in size, etc.

series1818

1776 Ld. Kames Gentleman Farmer App. 405 It must..be held, that the embryo..contains smaller embryos decreasing in size without end; and that each of these smaller embryos contains another series of decreasing embryos.

1818 F. Accum Pract. Ess. Chem. Re-agents (ed. 2) 61 A series of these [test] tubes should be always ready at hand.

1851 G. A. Mantell Petrifactions ii. §3. 116 The entire series of phalangeals with the corresponding metatarsal of a..species of Dinornis.

1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 298/2 Musical Glasses, a series of goblets of graduated sizes fixed in a case.

1930 Standards Yearbk. (National Bureau Statistics) 16 The discussions resulted in the setting up of a so-called A series of paper sizes.

1968 Brit. Med. Bull. 24 262/2 The grey scale is a graded series of densities from transparent (white) to black.

2004 P. Kangas Ecol. Engin. iv. 127 Test populations are raised in a series of containers with increasing doses of the chemical that is being assessed.

II. Specific and technical uses.

a. A set of coins, medals, or the like belonging to a particular period, locality, dynasty, or government. Also: a set of postage stamps, banknotes, etc., of a particular issue; (more generally) any collection of items (as cigarette cards, etc.) issued at the same time or so as to form a set.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > [noun] > set of coins

series1611

1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vii. xii. 312/2 No Nation in Europe can..come to so true a series of their Soueraignes Coines, as England is able at this day to doe.

1697 R. Gale tr. L. Jobert Knowl. Medals 28 A Gold or Silver series of Medals.

1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 128 Among the many and particular Series's collected by him, he has 800 Medals of Colony's, 1500 Greek Coins, and 1200 Egyptian.

1784 J. Pinkerton Ess. Medals 3 Serieses of Roman coins.

1863 Stamp-collector's Mag. 1 27/2 After the 5 soldi red of the new issue..appeared, the black of the older series..was superseded by a green of the same sort.

1879 H. Phillips Addit. Notes upon Coins 3 The present medal is one of a series struck to commemorate this occurrence.

1907 Lancet 16 Feb. 471/1 A fresh series of 5-franc notes is about to be issued.

1976 Mariner's Mirror 62 186 An excellent series of large cigarette cards in colour covered the figureheads of various ships.

1978 Sunday Tel. 29 Jan. (Colour Suppl.) 39 (advt.) A beautifully designed pack containing the unique series of stamps..to be issued by the Crown Agents.

2007 Stamp & Coin Mart Jan. 97/2 The first coin in the series was released in November 2004 and depicted the little spotted kiwi.

b. A set or class of motor vehicles, aircraft, etc., developed over a period and sharing many features of design or assembly.Often with modifier, such as a numeral or sequential letter, denoting the particular set or class; cf. model n. 13e.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > [noun] > an aircraft > a group of aircraft > developed class sharing design features

series1921

society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > motor vehicle > of specific design or brand > set or class of

series1921

1921 Automobile Jrnl. Mar. 3 (advt.) Lexington is the car that has created a wave of favorable comment for features only Lexington has to offer... All Series ‘S’ and Series ‘T’ models equipped with cord tires.

1953 W. A. Shrader Fifty Years of Flight 124/2 Spratt Aircraft Co...test-flies another in a series of tilt-wing flying boats designed by George Spratt.

1970 K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobook i. 9/2 Early models of the 600D series incorporated a centrifugal oil filter alone.

1988 Flight Internat. 17 Dec. 13/1 Hazelton Airlines of New South Wales, Australia, has ordered its first Shorts 360, a .300 series aircraft.

1994 Guardian 28 Sept. i. 2 (caption) Jaguar's parent company Ford yesterday revealed its new XJ6 series, a £300 million investment to be shown at next month's Birmingham motor show.

2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 1 Oct. d9/1 European roads frequently have higher speed limits than do those in the United States, letting drivers test the upper limits of a new BMW 3 Series or a Porsche 911.

8. Mathematics. A set of terms in ordered succession (finite or infinite in number), the value of each of which is determined by its ordinal position or by the preceding term or terms, in accordance with a definite rule; esp. a set of such terms added together (contrasted with sequence n. 3c(b)). Also in figurative contexts.exponential, geometric, harmonic, infinite, recurring series, also Dirichlet, Fibonacci, Fourier, Maclaurin's, Taylor's series: see the first element. reversion of series: see reversion n.¹ 5b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > numerical arrangement > [noun] > set > sequence > series

series1656

1656 T. Hobbes Six Lessons v. 47 in Elements Philos. In a Series (or a Row) of Quantities, beginning from a Point, or Cypher, and proceeding according to the order of the square Numbers, as 0, 1, 4, 9, 16, &c. to finde what Proportion the whole Series hath to so many times the greatest.

1668 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 3 641 In it the Author hath delivered a new Method Analytical for giving the Aggregate of an Infinite or Indefinite converging Series.

1674 M. Dary Let. 15 Oct. in I. Newton Corr. (1959) I. 326 Every term in this series brings you nearer and nearer, for if your supposition be too great, every term in this series makes it less and less; or if your supposition be too litle, every term in this series makes it greater and greater.

1734 Builder's Dict. I. at Equidifferent If in a Series of three Quantities, there be the same Difference between the first and second, as there is between the second and third, they are said to be continually equidifferent.

1753 Philos. Trans. 1751–2 (Royal Soc.) 47 20 The operation, by having two or more series's to multiply into one another, becomes very troublesome.

1791 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 81 148 The serieses deduced should converge.

1836 J. Gilbert Christian Atonem. ii. 59 To examine in detail the series, of which the computed sum betrays at once somewhere in the calculation so gross an error.

1839 R. Murphy Algebr. Equat. 92 Recurring Series have been much used..in the solution of algebraical equations.

1853 W. Whewell Plural. Worlds v. 76 We have here to build a theory without materials;—to sum a series of which every term, so far as we know, is nothing.

1908 T. J. I'A. Bromwich Introd. Theory Infinite Series ii. 22 If all the terms..of the series are positive, the sequence..steadily increases.

1939 E. C. Titchmarsh Theory of Functions (ed. 2) xii. 423 Parseval's formula therefore holds if the series is summed.

1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xx. 461 Leibniz..noted..that a series whose terms alternate in sign and decrease in absolute value monotonically to zero converges.

2002 D. Acheson 1089 & all That viii. 77 But infinite processes in mathematics aren't just about summing series or finding areas.

a. A set of literary compositions having certain features in common, published successively or intended to be read in sequence. In later use also: a succession of books of any kind issued by a publisher in a common format and having some similarity of subject or purpose, usually under an overall title.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > book > series or set > [noun]

setc1600

series1711

society > communication > book > series or set > [noun] > of same or similar form

library1692

series1883

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 106. ¶6 [The Chaplain] has digested them [sc. Sermons] into such a Series, that they follow one another naturally.

1741 (title) The champion: containing a series of papers, humourous, moral, political, and critical.

1783 J. Beattie Diss. Moral & Crit. 300 The Decameron..is a series of novels; whereof some are grave, others comical, and many indecent.

1823 London Lit. Gaz. 8 Nov. 710/3 The little volume before us is..an agreeable appendix to the Waverley series.

1883 Harper's Mag. July 310/2 The volume..which has been contributed to the ‘American Statesmen’ series by Mr. John T. Morse, Jun.

1925 W. Faulkner Let. in Thinking of Home (1992) 180 When my series of stories begins, please keep the copies I send you, and we can make a scrap book of them some day.

1950 Rotarian Aug. 47/3 James Fenimore Cooper..maintains the high standard..set by the preceding volumes in the new American Men of Letters Series.

1982 B. Searles et al. Reader's Guide to Fantasy 77 Besides a couple of novels in the ‘Conan’ series, Howard's major long work is Almuric.

2001 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 2 Dec. 69/1 Those who have read and, more importantly, enjoyed his [sc. Harry Potter's] adventures in J.K. Rowling's series of novels..will no doubt flock to see this big-screen version.

b. A succession of volumes or parts of a periodical, publications of a society, etc., which together form a discrete, usually numbered, set.Rolls Series: see roll n.¹ Compounds 2.

ΚΠ

1796 (title) A continuation of the general index to the Monthly Review; commencing at the seventy-first, and ending with the eighty-first, volume; completing the first series of that work.

1801 Monthly Rev. Mar. 309 In our next Appendix, we shall pay our respects to the second series of these Transactions of the National Institute [of France].

1805 Mem. Literary & Philos. Soc. Manch. 2nd Ser. Advt. These considerations have induced the Society to commence a second series, and they have accordingly denominated this the first volume of the series.

1888 Athenæum 17 Nov. 665/2 So many volumes are now comprised in the current series of All the Year Round that Mr. Dickens is going to start a new series in January.

1931 E. Pound Let. 27 Dec. (1971) 237 The continuation [of a magazine] can be called Poetry, Second Series, or new series.

2006 S. Lewis Anc. Tyranny 261 In the supplement series of the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society.

c. A related sequence of feature films, albums of recorded music or speech, or video games released successively, usually under an overall title.

ΚΠ

1913 Chicago Tribune 30 Dec. 3/5 The initial productions of a series of films showing ‘The Adventures of Kathlyn’ were given yesterday in several Chicago theaters.

1918 Boston Daily Globe 2 Mar. 2/4 An interesting new series of records, especially for children, is announced.

1943 Billboard 18 Sept. 65/3 Its Brunswick Collectors' Series of albums devoted to le jazz hot.

1984 Financial Times 29 Dec. 9/6 The sharpest buy is a compilation album of hits like Now that's what I call music. This series is already in its fourth edition.

1993 Empire Aug. 75/1 Jurassic Park finds its Spielbergian forerunners in Jaws, E.T. and the Indiana Jones series.

2005 Wired Nov. 70/1 The Grand Theft Auto series popularized the ‘sandbox’ game environment, a city-sized 3-D space in which you can roam freely.

d. A set of radio or television programmes broadcast in sequence, usually in regular episodes, and typically having a single theme or continuous storyline. Cf. serial n. 1c.Recorded earliest in radio series n. at radio n. Compounds 1b. See also miniseries n., television series n. at television n. Compounds 2b.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > broadcasting > radio broadcasting > [noun] > types of programme

radio show1921

children's hour1923

series1923

scrap-book1933

postscript1940

write-in1947

radiothon1953

society > communication > broadcasting > television > [noun] > type of programme

dramedy1905

news film1912

sex comedy1915

television adaptation1935

action comedy1936

sportcast1939

teleshopper1949

telethon1949

special1952

television special1952

TV special1952

science-fictioner1953

spectacular1954

promo1955

sitcom1956

spec1959

spin-off1959

reality programming1962

teleroman1964

mockumentary1965

serialization1965

talk show1965

laugh-in1967

novela1968

reality show1968

breakfast television1971

spy series1975

reality television1978

reality TV1980

series1988

shockumentary1988

1923 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 26 Mar. 8/8 The following talk was given at ‘The Courant’ radio station WDAK... It is the fourth of the Aetna radio series.

1924 Art News 24 May 6/1 There is to be given by the agency of the radio broadcasting stations a series of art lectures... In this first series it is proposed to discuss the great works..of the various countries and periods.

1933 Radio Times 14 Apr. 120/1 Tonight Mr. James Agate ‘presents’ perhaps the greatest..star of this glittering series.

1962 Listener 11 Oct. 581/2 A series, Zero One, opened with an episode called Stone Face.

1988 J. Trollope Choir i. 6 The lady producer at Granada Television..wished to come down to Ardminster for a series she was making on elitism in education.

2010 Daily Tel. 25 Mar. 34/2 Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars have stood as flagbearers for quality, popular drama series.

10. Chiefly Biology. A group of organisms or (formerly) mineral substances, or types of these, exhibiting similar characteristics or a constant relation between successive members; (now usually) a taxonomic category corresponding to such a group, in early use typically ranking above or immediately below the level of class, but now generally constituting a distinct subdivision within a diverse order, genus, section of a genus, or other taxon.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > organism > [noun]

structure1683

organization1707

individual1746

series1748

organism1834

macroorganism1941

1748 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. I. Pref. sig. a They were easily, according to their several more general characters, arrang'd into the several Series nature had ordain'd of them. The different subjects of these Series more minutely examin'd, were afterwards found to have their several secondary alliances in distinct sets..; and the dividing the several series into these sets gave the different Classes of Fossils.

1753 Monthly Rev. Jan. 18 Animals, then, being arranged under six general series, or families, this volume is divided into as many parts.

1768 Monthly Rev. Aug. 136 Mr. Forster..divides the several subjects which constitute the fossil kingdom into five classes, viz. earths, stones, salts, inflammables, and metals.—Each class again is divided into series; and each series into genera.

1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 100 When the sets of new planes..are so much extended as entirely to efface the primary planes, a series of entirely new solids will result.

1857 A. Gray First Lessons Bot. xxviii. 177 The following schedule..comprises all that are generally used in a natural classification,..Series, Class, Subclass [etc.].

1878 W. H. Dallinger in Nature 23 May 102/2 A hitherto unrecorded organism belonging to the septic series.

1936 Amer. Midland Naturalist 17 349 The order [Xenarthra] is divided into two groups, series Loricata, represented by the existing armadillos and the allied extinct glyptodonts; and series Pilosa represented by the existing tree-sloths and ant eaters and the extinct ground-sloths.

1978 Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 71 32 The series Scapifoliae, characterized by an inflorescence of spirally arranged bracts subtended by a foliage leaf,..included the following species: Calathea humilis, C. rossii, [etc.].

2008 S. J. Kays & S. F. Nottingham Biol. & Chem. Jerusalem Artichoke iii. 31 The Helianthus genus is separated into four sections, which are subdivided into a number of series based upon genetic and morphological characteristics.

11. Geology.

a. A set of successive deposits or formations having some common fossil or mineral features; an assemblage of successive, usually conformable, strata. In chronostratigraphy: a range of strata corresponding to an epoch in time, being a subdivision of a system and itself subdivided into stages; the rocks deposited during a specified epoch. Frequently with distinguishing word.The International Geological Congress (see quot. 1881) adopted a scheme of nomenclature in which the stratigraphical terms group (no longer used), system, series, and stage (in decreasing order of comprehensiveness) correspond to the terms era, period, epoch, and age for time intervals. Cf. group n. 5a(c), system n. 8, stage n. 1i(a).

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [noun]

series1799

system1823

terrain1823

stage1859

group1865

section1882

horizon1926

cyclothem1932

succession1940

range zone1957

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > sedimentary formation > [noun] > repeated units in

series1799

varve1912

rhythmite1937

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [noun] > corresponding to time unit

series1799

group1865

1799 tr. B. Faujas-de-St.-Fond Trav. in Eng., Scotl., & Hebrides II. xviii. 328 On piercing through the toad-stone..the vein as certainly makes its reappearance, and this fact they affirm holds good through every series of strata to any depth.

1802 R. Jameson in Jrnl. Nat. Philos., Chem., & Arts Sept. 13 Professor Playfair..mentions several instances of mechanical deposits and petrefactions which have been discovered among the primary strata, and from these he concludes, that no such series of strata as the transition [rocks] exist.

1822 W. D. Conybeare Outl. Geol. ii. iii. §2. 181 A zone of argilleo-calcareous beds belonging to the Purbeck series.

1836 W. Buckland Geol. & Mineral. I. ix. 76 The Tertiary Series introduces a system of new phenomena, presenting formations in which the remains of animal and vegetable life approach gradually nearer to species of our own epoch.

1881 Geol. Mag. 2nd Decade 8 558 The final result of the discussions was the adoption of terms in the following order, the most comprehensive being placed first:..Series..Epoch... As equivalents of Series, the terms Section or Abtheilung may be used... According to this scheme, we would speak of the Palæozoic Group or Era, the Silurian System or Period, the Ludlow Series or Epoch, and the Aymestry Stage or Age.

1898 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 6 355 The faunas of the Trenton limestone, the Utica and Hudson River shales are very intimately related, and that relation should be indicated by grouping the three together as stages of a single series.

1931 J. W. Gregory & B. H. Barrett Gen. Stratigr. x. 155 In Scotland the Upper Estuarine Series includes the Brora Coal seam, of which the roof is Callovian.

1949 A. E. Trueman Geol. & Scenery Eng. & Wales xiv. 188 The rocks..known as the Borrowdale Volcanic Series..include thick beds of lava together with other rocks..produced during the volcanic explosions.

1985 E. H. Colbert Wandering Lands & Animals (new ed.) ii. 63 This aligned series of folded rocks—the Gondwanide Fold Belt, as it may be called—is a structural feature linking the several parts of Gondwanaland.

2001 Nature 22 Mar. p. ix/4 A remarkably preserved assemblage of fossils from the Silurian (Wenlock Series) of Herefordshire, UK, spans a 100-million-year period around 425 million years ago.

b. A group of igneous rocks erupted or emplaced successively and displaying a gradation of petrographical characteristics.

ΚΠ

1844 C. Darwin Geol. Observ. vi. 123 Is it not more probable, that these dikes have been formed by fissures penetrating into partially cooled rocks of the granitic and metamorphic series, and by their more fluid parts,..oozing out, and being sucked into such fissures?]

1892 J. P. Iddings Origin Igneous Rocks 122 The whole group of eruptions forms a continuous series of rocks which merge into one another petrographically and chemically.

1909 J. P. Iddings Igneous Rocks I. ii. iii. 408 The term series should be applied to groups of rocks characterized by similarity of certain chemical or mineral constituents and by variations in others; the rocks being members of one family. Series may traverse the general system of classification in various directions.

1975 A. E. Kingwood Composition & Petrol. Earth's Mantle vii. 243 The behaviour of the orogenic series is fundamentally different from that of the tholeiitic and alkalic series.

2006 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 114 253/2 The El Tanque ash is the most silicic member of the medium‐K series.

12. A set of alloys or minerals having the same chemical composition except for the relative proportions of two elements that can replace one another.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > alloy > [noun] > other types of alloy

white metala1387

hard metal1577

series1807

aggregate1908

superalloy1920

1807 J. Murray Syst. Chem. III. vi. xii. 378 A series of alloys is formed from the combination of copper with tin, sufficiently important to require more particular notice.

1855 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 10 249 We..prepared a series of alloys in which copper predominated.

1859 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 148 357 The alloys of a series such as those of 2 equivalents of bismuth and 1 of lead, 3 Bi and 1 Pb, 4 Bi and 1 Pb, 5 Bi and 1 Pb, all conduct the same.

1911 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 512/2 In other groups [of minerals] the replacement may be indefinite in extent, and between the ends of the series the different members may vary indefinitely in composition.

1914 C. H. Desch Intermediate Compounds vi. 50 The compound Mg₃Bi₂ has a conductivity very near that of bismuth, and the two series Mg–Mg₃Bi₂ and Mg₃Bi₂–Bi are simple conglomerates.

1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth i. 17/1 The plagioclase feldspars show a slightly more complex type of ionic replacement and form the series NaAlSi₃O₈ (albite)–CaAl₂Si₂O₈ (anorthite).

2009 Jrnl. Alloys & Compounds 468 484/1 Two series of alloys were prepared to study the V-substitution in Ni without and with the compensating adjustments in Ti/Zr composition to maintain a constant average hydrogen-metal bond strength.

13. A number of electrical conductors connected end to end, each one to the preceding one, so that the same current flows through each.Usually attributive (see Compounds 1) or in in series at Phrases.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > [noun] > conductor > with regard to position

series1831

return1852

outer1900

1831 B. Silliman Elements Chem. II. 637 If, (says Volta,) in a series of three conductors, which touch two and two, we place either a conductor of the second class between two different ones of the first, or [etc.].

1843 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 8 2 The battery was sometimes used as a single series, with all its elements placed consecutively, and at others in two or three series, arranged collaterally.

1885 H. W. Watson & S. H. Burbury Math. Theory Electr. & Magn. I. 229 If any number of wires of different metals M₁, M₂, M₃, M₄ are joined together in series,..the wire of metal M₁ beginning and ending the series.

1953 Science 4 Dec. 694/2 A milliammeter is connected in a series to record the current passing through the strips.

1991 D. D. Pollock Thermocouples iv. 148 In this case,..series of conductors can be made to form the measuring junction of a thermocouple with no effect on its calibration.

14.

a. Chemistry. A group of elements, compounds, or radicals having similar or progressively varying properties or structures, esp. a group of the periodic table; (also) a set of elements, compounds, or radicals arranged in order of magnitude of some property.acetic, actinide, butyric, electrochemical, electromotive, fatty acid, hydrocarbon, lanthanide, parafin series, etc.: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > [noun] > elements > groups

series1838

group1863

pnicogen1966

1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 590 Oxamide. This substance, the first of the series of amides, was discovered by Dumas, in the year 1830.

1850 Q. Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 2 297 (heading) On a new series of organic bodies containing metals and phosphorus.

1869 H. E. Roscoe Lessons Elem. Chem. (new ed.) xxvii. 272 These homologous series of mono-, di-, tri-, and higher carbon groups.

1877 M. Foster Text Bk. Physiol. App. 520 The Acetic Acid Series..is one of the most complete homologous series of organic chemistry.

1922 J. W. Mellor Comprehensive Treat. Inorg. & Theoret. Chem. I. vi. 258 The valency of the elements shows a peculiar relation, for the maximum valency rises from 1 to 8 in passing along a given series from the first to the last group.

1943 Gloss. Terms Electr. Engin. (B.S.I.) 94 Electro-chemical series, a tabular arrangement of the elements in the order of the electrode potential developed when an element is immersed in a solution of normal ionic concentration.

1958 R. D. Connor in O. R. Frisch Nucl. Handbk. iv. §21 The second ‘rare earth’ series starts at actinium and is called the actinide series just as the original series starting at lanthanum is termed the lanthanide series.

1964 N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. ii. 12 Members of the series may be represented by a general molecular formula, and each member differs from the next by CH₂; the paraffins have the general formula C_nH_{2n + 2}.

1999 T. Pratchett et al. Sci. of Discworld viii. 71 We can..predict the properties of eka-lead by extrapolating from those in the ‘lead’ series in the periodic table (carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, lead).

2010 Bioorganic & Medicinal Chem. 20 2178 A series of water soluble glycosylated sulfanilamides.

b. = radioactive series n. at radioactive adj. Compounds.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactive isotope > radioactive nuclide > [noun] > series

series1903

radioactive series1907

1903 Rev. Amer. Chem. Res. 9 427 The radioactivity of a substance A and the rate at which it produces the next substance, B, in the series, are both proportional to the amount of A.

1904 F. Soddy Radio-activity xii. 172 Consider the case of a disintegration series in which there is a parent element, A, disintegrating at an excessively slow rate.

1926 R. W. Lawson tr. G. von Hevesy & F. A. Paneth Man. Radioactivity xxiv. 180 The resulting end-product of the uranium–radium series does not emit rays, and is hence stable.

1949 F. Soddy Story of Atomic Energy v. 50/2 The RaE changes to Radium F,..the last radio-element in the main uranium series.

1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia I. 67/2 The mass numbers of all isotopes of the so-called thorium series..turn out to be multiples of four, and the series is known as the 4n series.

2001 O. Sacks Uncle Tungsten xxiii. 285 The end points of each series were similar—radium G, actinium E, and thorium E, so-called, were all isotopes of lead.

15.

a. Phonetics. A group of sounds which share a particular feature or features of articulation, but may be distinguished from one another on the basis of a further articulatory feature.

ΚΠ

1844 T. H. Key Alphabet 25 In the Sanskrit alphabet, the series of guttural, palatal, lingual, dental, and labial consonants, have an n belonging to each class.

1895 P. Giles Short Man. Compar. Philol. ii. viii. 113 Osthoff argues that there were originally three series of guttural consonants [in Indo-Germanic], making the velars which are not followed by u̯ the third intermediate or ‘palato-velar’ series.

1952 A. Martinet in Word 8 13 A number of consonantal phonemes characterized by one and the same articulation will be said to form a ‘series’ if their other characteristic articulations can be located at different points along the air channel. Thus in English /p/, /t/, /č/, /k/,..will form a series, and so will /b/, /d/, /ǧ/, /g/.

1969 C. A. M. Baltaxe tr. N. S. Trubetzkoy Princ. Phonol. i. iv. 125 Many languages have two apical series, one characterized by the tip of the tongue pointed upward, the other by the tip of the tongue pointed downward, instead of a single series characterized by the participation of the tip of the tongue.

2003 S. Matthews & R. S. Bauer in G. Thurgood & R. J. LaPolla Sino-Tibetan Lang. ix. 147 In Hong Kong Cantonese, the series of alveolo-palatal consonants..occur as non-contrastive allophones.

b. Linguistics. A set of sounds which together exemplify a pattern of phonological variation which takes place according to certain rules; a particular set of word forms which exemplify such variation. Usually with modifying word.Frequently with reference to the phenomenon of ablaut in Germanic and other Indo-European languages, esp. in ablaut series, gradation series.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > vowel > [noun] > ablaut > set of

series1887

1887 Classical Rev. 1 64/2 We distinguish six gradation-series (Ablautsreihen).

1888 J. Wright Old High-German Primer 61 The vowels vary within certain series of related vowels, called ablaut-series. There are in OHG. six such series.

1891 A. L. Mayhew Synopsis Old Eng. Phonol. p. xvi The double colon (::) occurring between forms of words, is used to indicate ‘ablaut’ or change of grade in a vowel series.

1914 C. Harris German Gram. i. 106 The old strong verbs fall into six classes or gradation series.

1934 Language 10 129 A morpho-phoneme is one of a class of like phonemes considered as components of actual morphemes which behave alike morphologically, i.e., have a like place in the same mutation series.

1956 Mod. Lang. Notes 71 195 The pattern is based upon the radical vowel i of the first ablaut series.

2005 P. Head in A. Harbus & R. Poole Verbal Encounters iii. 56 The Germanic ablaut series kin-, kan-, kin- is also the root of Gothic *knaian.., Gothic kunnan.., and Germanic *kunþian.

16.

a. Baseball. A set of games played usually on successive days between two teams.Subway, World Series: see the first element.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > game > series

series1862

World Series1886

1862 N.Y. Sunday Mercury 13 July 6/3 This last game ended the series, and the players were to return this..morning.

1885 Washington Post 11 Oct. 2/6 (headline) Beaten the third time. The Baltimores lose their series with the Nationals.

1915 Chicago Tribune 8 June 13/8 The Cubs found their ardor chilled by another spell of weather and the third game of their series with New York was postponed.

1960 Time 3 Oct. 67/2 The Yankees have..individual stars who can rouse themselves to greatness and win a short series by themselves.

1973 Internat. Herald Tribune 15 June 15/4 It was the first time in almost a month that the Mets had won two straight. And it was the first time in exactly a month that they had captured a series.

2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 10 June b11/3 The Friday night pitcher is the ace of a college team, the one who pitches under the lights to open a weekend series.

b. Sport. A sequence of games, races, or matches, the results of which determine an overall winner or champion; (Cricket and Rugby) a set of Test matches between two sides during a single (international) tour; cf. Test series n. at test n.¹ Additions.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > [noun] > cricket-match > series

series1899

the ashes1903

1871 Turf, Field & Farm 6 Jan. 11/3 The [billiards] match..is the sixth of the new championship series, and involves, in addition to $1,000 in cash, the custody of the Diamond Cue.

1899 Baily's Mag. Aug. 144/1 At Lord's England suffered a crushing defeat by ten wickets. The third match of the series played at Leeds went better for the Old Country.

1912 A. A. Lilley Twenty-four Years Cricket xiv. 195 The only Test match of the tour that had a definite conclusion was the second of the series.

1929 Times 29 July 4/7 Australia has created a new record against New Zealand by beating them in three Tests in one series.

1954 Los Angeles Times 9 Aug. iv. 4/6 Walter Trepte..brought his big yawl Evening Star home second yesterday in the third and final race to win the large-boat ocean-racing series.

1976 Economist 3 Jan. 68/2 The final test in New Zealand, which the All Blacks had to win to square the series.

1992 Autosport 23 Apr. 11/1 Ex-Vauxhall Lotus driver and newcomer to the series, Mark Goddard, earned a commendable 5th place on the grid.

2007 Wisden Cricketer July (Sri Lanka Suppl.) 9/2 I have many very happy memories of touring Sri Lanka, especially in 2000–1..when we came back from 1–0 down to win the series.

17. Physics. A set of related lines in a spectrum, spec. a set in which the frequencies of the lines are mathematically related in a fairly simple way.The most significant series in the spectrum of atomic hydrogen are named: see Lyman n., Balmer n.³, Paschen n. 2, Brackett n., and Pfund series n. The first series to be discovered was the Balmer series, in 1885.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > in a series

order1704

series1886

1886 Science 11 June 528/2 The five series of lines in the low-temperature spectrum of carbo-hydrogen.

1890 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 58 ii. 674 The corresponding components of the pairs form series whose wave-numbers are functions of the successive natural numbers.

1890 J. R. Rydberg in London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 29 335 K (D₁, 4) denotes the fourth line of the first diffuse series of the spectrum of potassium.

1936 N. Feather Introd. Nucl. Physics v. 85 The first proof of the concentration of heavy hydrogen (H²)..was obtained in this way—in the spectrum of the enriched gas a second Balmer series appeared slightly shifted with respect to the first.

1952 R. W. Ditchburn Light xvii. 543 These formulæ suggest that the wave numbers of all these series may be expressed as differences of a set of wave numbers which are known as spectroscopic ‘terms’.

1978 E. P. Bertin Introd. X-ray Spectrometr. Anal. i. 37 X-ray spectral lines are grouped in series K, L, M, N; all lines in a series result from electron transitions from various higher orbitals to the indicated shell.

2005 E. Habart et al. in C. Cesarsky & A. Salama ISO Sci. Legacy 87 Infrared Space Observatory provided a fundamental step forward in that it enabled us for the first time to exploit the potential of the pure rotational series of H².

18. A collection of rough diamonds offered for sale in a single consignment; spec. a collection of diamonds chosen to be representative of the output of a particular mine. Cf. parcel n. 9b.

ΚΠ

1900 Rep. Commerc. Relations U.S. with Foreign Countries 1899 (U.S. Dept. of State) II. 490 The industry has been damaged by..the growing remissness in assorting, technically ‘making’ the series of diamonds.

1904 G. F. Kunz in D. T. Day Mineral Resources U.S. 1902 862 The series is made up so that when a dealer buys a ‘series’, he buys every quality of diamond found in the mine in the proportion in which they are produced at that time.

1949 Changing Times June 18/1 The dealers..must buy a ‘series’ of diamonds—including grades they may not want as well as grades they desire.

1982 E. J. Epstein Rise & Fall Diamonds vi. 62 [He] arranges a ‘series’ of diamonds for each client in which the less profitable diamonds are mixed in with the more profitable gems. Under no circumstances may clients pick from this series the diamonds they want. They must accept all—or none.

19. Soil Science. = soil series n. at soil n.¹ Compounds 2. Also with distinguishing word.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > [noun] > soil group

series1904

soil series1905

soil class1913

soil group1921

catena1935

soil association1939

1904 Ann. Rep. U.S. Dept. Agric. 1903–4 269 These types have been arranged in 31 series, in which the soils are related in point of origin.

1917 J. G. Mosier & A. F. Gustafson Soil Physics & Managem. viii. 79 The Cecil series include the most important and widely distributed soils of the Piedmont Plateau.

1952 L. M. Thompson Soils & Soil Fertility vi. 86 Several of the great soil groups of the United States include hundreds of series.

1970 E. M. Bridges World Soils v. 34/2 The Ettrick Association derived from Silurian greywackes and shales has six component series in the Jedburgh and Morebattle district.

2003 F. S. Gilliam & M. R. Roberts Herbaceous Layer Forests Eastern N. Amer. viii. 206 Dry-mesic sites with soils of the Rubicon series (sandy, mixed, frigid Entic Haplorthods), derived from glacial outwash deposits.

20. Music. An arrangement of notes of the chromatic scale (usually all twelve) used as the basis for a piece of serial music; = tone-row n. at tone n. Compounds 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > arrangement of chromatic scale

series1930

row1936

tone-row1936

note-series1947

note-row1955

1930 Mod. Music 7 iv. 5 The tonal material of a composition [by Schönberg] is a series of Twelve tones, borrowed from the chromatic scale and grouped in a special arrangement... The word ‘series’ is by no means identical with the idea of ‘theme’... The series is to be considered rather as a tone-complex, whose successions and intervalic relations always recur.

1940 E. Křenek Stud. Counterpoint p. viii The primary function of the series is that of a sort of ‘store of motifs’ out of which all the individual elements of the composition are to be developed.

1981 P. Griffiths Mod. Music 90 His [sc. Berio's] Nones for orchestra (1954) is quite clearly based on a 13-note series.

2009 R. Scruton Understanding Music iii. 36 When I listen to a piece written in the idiom of twelve-tone serialism I may recognize that all the notes of the series have been exhausted except one—G sharp, say.

21. Anglican Church. With specifying number: each of three experimental alternative forms of service used in the Church of England between 1965 and 1980. Cf. sense 9b.These forms of service were replaced in 1980 by those given in the Alternative Service Book.

ΚΠ

1965 (title) Alternative services: first series.

1965 (title) Alternative services: second series.

1967 Church Q. Rev. 168 442 It is undoubtedly the rite of Series 2 which points the way forward.

1971 Churchman 85 212 The amended text..has now been published as Holy Communion: Series 3.

1977 B. Pym Quartet in Autumn i. 15 What would be the reaction of the congregation if Father G. tried to introduce Series Three?

2009 N. H. Taylor Lay Presidency at Eucharist? 2 The usage..was introduced to the liturgy of the Church of England with Series 3 in 1971.

Phrases

in series.

a. So as to follow on in succession (of time or order); one after another, in sequence.

ΚΠ

1751 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. II. 69 A number of naked seeds, arranged in series like the beads of a necklace.

1765 W. Ward Ess. Gram. vi. i. 256 The most common..occurrences, are expressed in every language by words so placed in series, that the words will easily go off the tongue of the speaker.

1802 Port Folio 25 Dec. 402/2 His sketches of political parties..taken together, and in series, constitute outlines which..might make a very valuable work.

a1877 T. M. Herbert Realistic Assumptions Mod. Sci. Examined (1879) ii. 249 Conscious states occur in series..; that is to say, one passes away, and gives place to another.

1954 Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland) 1 Apr. 18/1 The individual staff darkrooms..are arranged in series along a safelighted corridor within the department.

1990 Achievement Sept. 7/1 A philosophy which means overlapping some activities which you conventionally do in series.

b. So as to form or maintain a single electrical path between two points; (also) connected in this way. Also in extended use, with reference to any analogous system through which something passes. Frequently with with. Contrasted with in parallel.

ΚΠ

1836 J. F. Daniell in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 126 111 The same quantity of force is generated and expended in the cells in both combinations: but when in series, no connecting wire conveys more than the quantity generated in one cell to the next.

1888 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1887 616 The current through the coils of the second magnet may be controlled by the addition of a resistance in series with it.

1910 Encycl. Brit. IV. 520/2 The ‘continuous’ kiln..is really made up of a number of separate kilns or firing-chambers, built in series and connected..in such a manner that the products of combustion from one kiln may be made to pass through a number of other kilns.

1922 Proc. IRE 10 249 It was necessary to use a two-electrode tube in series with the auxiliary emf.

1959 Electronic Engin. 31 330 The collector and emitter of the transistor are connected in series.

1971 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Aug. 107/1 Gas pressure in the accelerator tube is controlled by a pair of oil diffusion pumps that operate in series.

2006 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Sept. 94/1 In a car battery, six cells, each contributing two volts, are connected in series to make a 12-volt battery.

Compounds

C1. (in sense 13).

a. attributive. Relating to or involving electrical connection in series; arranged or connected in series.

ΚΠ

1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts 3rd Ser. 125/1 The ordinary or series dynamo.

1888 Scribner's Mag. Aug. 194/2 The ‘series’ system..may be likened to the arrangement of disks on the chain of a chain-pump.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 587/2 Fig. 33, illustrating the series machine, shows the winding of the exciting coils to be composed of a few turns of thick wire.

1926 R. W. Hutchinson First Course Wireless vi. 101 In the above example of resonance the capacity and inductance were in series and such a case is often referred to as series resonance.

1962 G. A. T. Burdett Automatic Control Handbk. i. 26 The outstanding characteristic of the d.c. series motor is powerful torque at starting and also at low speeds.

1974 P. K. Harvey & K. J. Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. iii. 51 The attenuation produced by the series insertion of a crystal into a circuit operating at a variable frequency.

2004 J. de Kock & K. Strauss Pract. Power Distribution Industry iv. 70 Series capacitors are utilized to neutralize part of the inductive reactance of a power network.

b. Forming adjectives with past participles, as series-connected, series-excited, series-tuned, series-wound, etc.

ΚΠ

1883 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 12 Jan. 170/1 It is..possible to use as a motor any direct current dynamo, whether the field-magnets be series-wound, shunt-wound, separately excited, or permanently magnetised.

1889 U.S. Patent 406.494 1/1 It has also been proposed to regulate both separately-excited and series-excited constant-current dynamos by the winding of the field-magnet with a directly-connected shunt-coil.

1892 I. Sharpless et al. Nat. Philos. (rev. ed.) ix. 325 There are about four segments in the commutator of the Brush machine series connected,..and about sixty-four in the Edison armature connected in parallel.

1922 Brit. Patent 188,505 2/1 This effect may be obtained by using a separate series tuned circuit in series with the resistance.

1957 Pract. Wireless 32 379/1 (advt.) It is essential to use mains primary types with T.V. receivers having series-connected heaters.

1961 M. G. Say Electr. Engineer's Ref. Bk. (ed. 10) viii. 74 Especially in large pumps, a series-excited electromagnet is to be preferred.

1987 E. H. J. Pallett Aircraft Electr. Syst. (ed. 3) x. 175/2 The motor is of the series-wound split-field type.

2012 D. Fitzpatrick Analog Design & Simulation xi. 147 The series connection of the equivalent inductor and C1 forms a series tuned circuit which determines the frequency of the notch filter.

C2. attributive in sense 16, as series champion, series defeat, series victory, etc.

ΚΠ

1895 N.-Y. Times 2 Dec. i. 3/2 (heading) Coach Woodruff tells of Pennsylvania's football team... Star players led to the unbroken series victories.

1910 Bakersfield Californian 27 July ii Vernon took the series opener from Oakland yesterday, 2 to 1.

1921 Washington Post 21 Sept. 14/5 (heading) Series champions to play for Post trophy.

1954 Jet 14 Oct. 53 It was the Giants' first Series victory since 1933.

1975 Pop. Mech. Feb. 69 (caption) George Alderman, below in No. 32 Gremlin, won series finale to become '74 champion.

1985 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 10 Apr. The yacht shares the series lead on 51 points with Mooloolaba sloop Hot August Night.

1993 Star-Ledger (Newark) 22 Oct. 73 The Jays are looking to become..the first repeat Series champs since the Yankees in 1977–78.

2002 Times 7 Jan. (Sports Daily) 7/1 South Africa have little hope on the evidence of this traumatic series defeat, their first whitewash for 70 years.

C3. attributive and objective in sense 9d, as series creator, series finale, series opener, etc.

ΚΠ

1940 Washington Post 12 May vi. 5/1 Hendrik Willem van Loon and Courtney Ryley Cooper represent the writing profession in the summer series opener.

1969 Ebony Feb. 32/1 (caption) Bill Cosby..was an Emmy Award winner three years in a row as best dramatic series actor.

1982 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 22 Oct. 19 In the series premiere, Dame Margot focuses on the rise of the male dancer.

1992 M. Medved Hollywood vs. Amer. vi. xix. 339 Series creator Matt Groening noted that he had received a letter from a nuclear-power lobbying group saying his show ‘confused and frightened the American public’.

1999 T. Parsons Man & Boy (2000) xiv. 119 The two men in glasses on either side of her—the show's series producer and the series editor—smiled in agreement.

2007 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 28 June 14 I can't wait to find out what happens to [Dr] Who in the series finale this Saturday night.

C4.

series-parallel adj. involving a combination or alternation of series and parallel electrical connections; spec. designating a method of control of two or more electric traction motors in which the motors work in series on starting and are switched to parallel working when a certain speed is reached.

ΚΠ

1894 K. Hedges Amer. Electr. Street Railways vi. 68 In the series parallel method of control, the motors are first connected in ‘series’.

1957 Railway Mag. June 427/2 The operating voltage is 500 volts d.c., with orthodox series-parallel control for the four-motor equipments.

1968 Radio Communication Handbk. (ed. 4) i. 13/2 This is the value of the equivalent inductance of the four coils in this series-parallel arrangement.

2004 Backwoods Home Mag. July 49/1 In any series-parallel battery layout, make sure you do not have more than two cables connected to any single battery flag terminal.

series-resonant adj. (of a tuned circuit or device) displaying resonance (resonance n. 6) when a load or supply is connected in series; relating to such resonance.

ΚΠ

1911 B. V. Swenson & B. Frankenfield Testing Electro-magn. Machinery II. 11 (caption) Connections for a series resonant circuit; resistance, capacity and emf. constant, variable inductance.

1935 A. R. Nilson & J. L. Hornung Pract. Radio Communication viii. 349 It will be necessary to attenuate the high frequencies... This may be accomplished by introducing a series-resonant circuit similar to that used for scratch filters.

1970 Single Sideband for Radio Amateur (Amer. Radio Relay League) (ed. 5) i. 20/1 The circuit has both a series-resonant frequency and a parallel-resonant frequency.

2000 P. Scherz Pract. Electronics for Inventors ix. 282 The Pierce oscillator, which uses a JFET amplifier stage, employs a crystal as a series-resonant feedback element.

series spectrum n. Physics a spectrum consisting of a series (sense 17) of lines.

ΚΠ

1897 Nature 19 Aug. 388/1 (title) Series spectra of oxygen, sulphur, and selenium, by C. Runge and F. Paschen.

1974 G. Reece tr. F. Hund Hist. Quantum Theory vii. 100 With the aid of the n, l, j scheme it was possible to understand the multiplicity of the terms in the optical series spectra for atoms with one, two or three external electrons.

2010 L. Golub & J. M. Pasachoff Solar Corona (ed. 2) iii. 62 They have relatively simple series spectra and they constitute the elements in the first column of the periodic table.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	series
释义	seriesn. Brit. /ˈsɪəriːz/, /ˈsɪərɪz/, U.S. /ˈsɪriz/ Inflections: Plural unchanged, (rare) serieses. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin seriēs. Etymology: < classical Latin seriēs row, continuous line, succession, sequence, line of ancestors or descendants < serere to link, to join, to string together ( < the same Indo-European base as ancient Greek εἴρειν to string together) + -iēs , suffix forming nouns. Compare French série (1715), Spanish serie (1499), Portuguese série (1686), Italian serie (1563); also German Serie (14th cent. in Middle High German as serje ‘row, stripe, succession’, subsequently reborrowed in early 18th cent.), Swedish serie (1661). Compare earlier serie n.In the specific linguistic uses in sense 15b, and probably also in sense 15a, after German Reihe row n.¹ (1822 or earlier in sense 15a; 1830 or earlier in sense 15b, apparently originally in the compound Ablautsreihe, later also Ablautreihe, ‘gradation series’). N.E.D. (1912) also gives the pronunciation (sī^ə·riˌīz) /ˈsɪərɪiːz/. I. General uses. 1. a. The fact of forming a sequence or succession; the order in which things are placed within such a sequence or succession; sequence. Now rare except as implied in in series at Phrases. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > order of succession ordera1382 processa1387 course1558 sequence1592 series1594 the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > succession or following in time > [noun] > sequence or order of succession entailc1380 sequence1592 series1594 sequel1615 succession1708 1594 W. Clerke Triall of Bastardie ii. 10 Their numeration remaineth nowe to be spoken of, their Series, their order. 1651 N. Bacon Contin. Hist. Disc. Govt. 223 Nor [are] they good Historians, that will tell you the bare journall of Action, without the Series of occasion. 1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ ii. iii. §2 It seems impossible that any thing should really alter the series of things, without the same power which at first produced them. 1760 tr. Chronol. Diss. Reigns Kings Israel & Judah in tr. S. J. Baumgarten Suppl. Eng. Universal Hist. (new ed.) I. 20 If some mistake or other has been committed, by placing an event somewhat later or earlier than it really happened, I am persuaded it is not material, nor affects the series of the whole. 1781 S. Johnson Watts in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets VIII. 12 The series of his works I am not able to deduce. 1820 S. Turner Hist. Anglo-Saxons (ed. 3) III. ix. vii. 463 The correct series of the connected events..had not then become known. 1845 Intellect. Repository Oct. 367 This little preface extends over two leaves, not numbered in the series of the book. 1998 Infoworld 23 Feb. 113/2 It's really about trying..to get things in the series in which they actually occurred in life. †b. The connected sequence of thoughts or ideas of which a discourse, text, etc., is composed. Also: a train of thought, line of argument, etc. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > natural or logical sequence series1596 consequentness1644 sequency1826 sequence1828 consecutiveness1833 sequentiality1883 the mind > language > speech > narration > [noun] > a narrative or account > thread or sequence of series1596 string1833 1596 T. Nashe Haue with you to Saffron-Walden sig. O2 He did for him that eloquent post-script for the Plague Bills, where he talkes of the series the classes & the premisses. 1600 W. Cornwallis Ess. I. xv. sig. K2^v There is yet something else to be noted besides the Series of the History. 1612 T. Taylor Αρχὴν Ἁπάντων: Comm. Epist. Paul to Titus (iii. 2) 571 Many will say, it is great pitie of the man, I speake it with griefe, but the series and tenor of the speach sheweth it a merciles pitie. 1646 R. Crashaw Musicks Duell in Steps to Temple 104 The plyant Series of her slippery song. 1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 549. ¶1 I am engaged in this Series of Thought by a Discourse which I had..with..Sir Andrew Freeport. a1758 J. Ward Syst. Oratory (1759) I. 290 It assists the hearers to carry on the series of the discourse in their mind, which is a great advantage to the memory. 1797 M. Robinson Walsingham IV. xci. 293 The day passed in a gloomy series of thought, which even the eccentricity of my pupil could not enliven. 1844 J. J. G. Wilkinson tr. E. Swedenborg Animal Kingdom II. ii. 346 This subject is explained in detail in the following pages, in the series of the argument. 2. a. A number of people in succession who have a position, characteristic, etc., in common; spec. (esp. in early use) a number of people who successively hold the same office; (also) †those belonging to a particular line of descent, a family line (obsolete). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent linec1386 descent?a1400 pedigree1440 series1599 Welsh pedigree1615 bloodline1658 family linea1694 stem-line1892 the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > of persons series1599 1599 J. Sprint in T. Storer Life & Death Wolsey sig. B2^v Among the Series of this learned traine, O Storer liue, and grace them with thy witte. 1625 T. Godwin Moses & Aaron i. v. 15 Aaron, and those that issued from his loynes (in whom the series of Priests was continued). 1638 T. Nabbes Totenham Court ii. i. 14 To make the series of their Families Spread in so many glorious divisions. 1656 T. Blount Glossographia Series,..an issue or descent of kindred. 1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 287. ¶6 Look into the Historian I have mentioned, or into any Series of Absolute Princes. 1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1776 II. 16 [Johnson:] Entails are good, because it is good to preserve in a country, serieses of men, to whom the people are accustomed to look up as to their leaders. 1855 Universalist Q. & Gen. Rev. Oct. 432 Following down the series of visitors to that country in chronological order..enables us to see what they saw. 1880 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 19 Mar. 382/1 From that time, the series of Secretaries was continued without any break. 1936 H. Belloc Characters Reformation 37 All those who managed him..despised him... That was true of the whole series of those who ‘ran’ him. 1962 Listener 31 May 935/2 His mother has never been married, has lived for some years at a time with a series of ‘uncles’ who have been the fathers of these siblings. 2000 Daily Tel. 21 Dec. 16/1 We sharpened our presentation before a series of enthusiastic business angels and venture capitalists. b. A number of discrete things of one kind (esp. events or actions) following one another in succession over time, or in order of appearance or presentation. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession row?1510 processiona1564 sequencea1575 succession1579 pomp1595 suite1597 rosary1604 sequel1615 series1618 rope1621 success1632 concatenation1652 sorites1664 string1713 chain1791 course1828 serie1840 daisy chain1856 nexus1858 catena1862 litany1961 the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > succession or following in time > [noun] > a succession, series, or sequence suit1406 sequencea1575 train1606 series1618 track1681 the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > of actions, conditions, or events gradation1549 continuance1605 series1618 chain1696 1618 G. Chapman tr. Hesiod Georgicks ii. 455 The noisome gales,..that incense the seas And raise together in one series Ioues Autumne dashes. 1646 J. Howell Lustra Ludovici 20 So was his whole life attended with a series of good successes. 1656 tr. T. Hobbes Elements Philos. i. i. 1 All men can reason to some degree..but where there is need of a long series of Reasons, there most men wander out of the way. 1713 H. Felton Diss. Reading Classics 174 The worst Province an Historian can fall upon, is a Series of barren Times, in which nothing remarkable happeneth. 1765 W. Ward Ess. Gram. iv. iv. 167 Several participles cannot conveniently be used so as to affect every part of long serieses of words immediately. 1797 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 514/1 These different heights of tide are observed to succeed each other in a regular series... This series is completed in about 15 days... Two serieses are completed in the exact time of a lunation. 1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. i. vi. 48 What a hoping People he had, judge by the fact, and series of facts, now to be noted. 1864 C. Babbage Passages Life Philosopher 46 Another series of experiments were..made. 1912 ‘Saki’ Unbearable Bassington xii. 219 This great stroke of good luck..had been thrust aside by an act or series of acts of wanton paltry folly. 1958 W. S. Churchill Hist. Eng.-speaking Peoples IV. v A more immediate cause of the rising was a series of defeats and reverses suffered by the British. 1987 M. Das Cyclones i. 2 They held another series of meetings. 2011 New Yorker 14 Feb. 95/3 He had a series of liaisons, each of which he confessed. †3. A catalogue or list, esp. of people. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > communication > record > list > [noun] tableOE scorec1325 billa1340 calendar?a1400 legendc1400 librarya1450 Ragmanc1450 Ragman rollc1450 cataloguea1464 repertory1542 scrowa1545 bedroll?1552 roll1565 file1566 state1582 inventory1589 brief1600 series1601 counter-roll1603 list1604 muster roll1605 cense1615 pinax1625 repertoirec1626 diagram1631 recensiona1638 repertorium1667 vocabulary1694 albe1697 enumeration1725 screed1748 album1753 tableau1792 roll-call1833 shopping list1923 laundry list1958 remainder list1977 1601 F. Godwin Catal. Bishops of Eng. 393 The series or Catalogue of the Bishops of Rochester from Beornmod to Siward..is but very maymed and vnperfect. 1656 Earl of Monmouth tr. T. Boccalini Ragguagli di Parnasso 167 Some Vertuosi..made a long, and an exact series of many abuses which reigned in that State. 1660 R. Coke Elements Power & Subjection 60 in Justice Vindicated It is not my purpose to relate a series and catalogue of all the British Kings to the Saxon Monarchs. 1736 Universal Hist. I. i. vi. 407 We shall subjoin a series of the kings of the different kingdoms of this country, so far as we can collect them. 4. A number or set of physical objects of one kind ranged in a line, usually either contiguously or at more or less regular intervals; a row or continued spatial succession of similar objects.In early use sometimes: spec. †a continuous run of masonry or building (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > arrangement in (a) row(s) or line(s > [noun] > a line or row > of things of the same kind series1611 bank1777 1611 T. Coryate Crudities sig. Ll8^v A very faire architectonical Machine.., in which are three degrees, whereof each contayneth a faire Statue... At the very toppe of this rowe or series of worke is errected a most excellent effigies of a Cocke. 1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes II. x. xii. 1828 Each of the foure Steeples..had..three distinct rowes of Lampes..[and] three subdiuided rowes or series that pertained to the..pertition[s]. 1638 T. Herbert Some Yeares Trav. (rev. ed.) 163 For five hundred paces it every way gives a series of all sorts of Persian fruits and flowers. 1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. Bentivoglio Compl. Hist. Warrs Flanders ii. iii. 225 On the flanks of these [stockades] towards the upper part a series of Parapets were raised. 1726 A. Monro Anat. Humane Bones 181 That Protuberance..is called the Spinal Process, from which this whole Series of Bones has got its Name. 1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. x. 136 She..alighted safely in an extensive garden, resembling more an English pleasure ground, than a series of French parterres. 1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xi. 183 The series of squares called Belgravia. 1872 H. C. Wood Contrib. Hist. Freshwater Algæ 68 Cells mostly arranged in a simple or double series in the filament. 1925 P. Power Early Christian Ireland ii. 22 On the inside the little building is roofed..by a barrel vault, between which and the outer stone roof there is an overcroft, or series of very small rooms. 1974 J. Gardner Nickel Mountain iii. i. 94 Black telephone poles stood out sharply against the gray all around them, pole after pole, a series winding downward as if forever. 2007 R. Vincent Stray xvii. 307 ‘What's your pleasure?’ Parker asked, lining up a series of bottles on the faded Formica countertop. 5. †a. A continued or unfolding course of events; an onward progression of time, actions, etc. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > continuity or uninterruptedness > [noun] > continuous succession > a continuous series or course seriousnessc1487 continuity1601 train1606 series1613 thread1642 continuum1650 clue1656 run1709 1613 R. Dallington Briefe Inference Guicciardines Digression 39 in Aphorismes Ciuill & Militarie Thus by a long series and tract of time, hath our Author brought vs from the infancie of the Church [printed Chuch]..to the yeare of our Lord 1400. 1652 J. Gaule Πυς-μαντια 152 The series both of fate, and of fortune. 1664 N. Ingelo Bentivolio & Urania: 2nd Pt. vi. 244 To devote the Series of their whole Life to the Divine Honour. 1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey I. iii. 140 How trace the tedious series of our fate? 1772 E. Burke Corr. (1844) I. 373 A more decent..and prudent series of proceeding. 1805 T. Lindley Narr. Voy. to Brasil 11 His life had been a series of industry. 1816 J. Austen Emma II. iv. 62 After a series of what had appeared to him strong encouragement. View more context for this quotation 1883 R. L. Stevenson Silverado Squatters 249 The hours themselves were marked out from each other only by the series of our own affairs. b. A state, period, or spell of a continuing phenomenon, esp. a particular type of weather. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > [noun] > spell of weather season1608 slatcha1625 set1633 fit1690 series1723 spell1728 1723 J. Hodgson Syst. Math. II. v. iii. 282 Twilights..are of a longer duration..after a Series of hot Days than after a Series of cold Weather. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson i. x. 98 We had a series of as favourable weather, as could well be expected. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. i. 111 Those..who have endured a long series of thirst. 1814 J. Austen Mansfield Park II. xi. 245 They were now a miserable trio, confined within doors by a series of rain and snow, with nothing to do and no variety to hope for. View more context for this quotation 1871 E. M. Pearson & L. E. McLaughlin Our Adventures I. xvi. 340 During the month we were at Sedan we had an almost unbroken series of cloudless weather, only one day of rain. 1902 Louisiana Planter & Sugar Manufacturer 15 Feb. 101/1 All the indications point to the approach of a series of the same weather we have had for the past two weeks. 6. A set of objects of the same kind which differ progressively in size or some other respect, or have a recognized order of enumeration or a constant relation between successive members. Also: a number of measurements, magnitudes, etc., which can be formed into a progressive order or sequence. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > [noun] > a series or succession > a number of magnitudes viewed as series1776 the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > group > set of things to be used or made together > differing in size, etc. series1818 1776 Ld. Kames Gentleman Farmer App. 405 It must..be held, that the embryo..contains smaller embryos decreasing in size without end; and that each of these smaller embryos contains another series of decreasing embryos. 1818 F. Accum Pract. Ess. Chem. Re-agents (ed. 2) 61 A series of these [test] tubes should be always ready at hand. 1851 G. A. Mantell Petrifactions ii. §3. 116 The entire series of phalangeals with the corresponding metatarsal of a..species of Dinornis. 1876 J. Stainer & W. A. Barrett Dict. Musical Terms 298/2 Musical Glasses, a series of goblets of graduated sizes fixed in a case. 1930 Standards Yearbk. (National Bureau Statistics) 16 The discussions resulted in the setting up of a so-called A series of paper sizes. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. 24 262/2 The grey scale is a graded series of densities from transparent (white) to black. 2004 P. Kangas Ecol. Engin. iv. 127 Test populations are raised in a series of containers with increasing doses of the chemical that is being assessed. II. Specific and technical uses. 7. a. A set of coins, medals, or the like belonging to a particular period, locality, dynasty, or government. Also: a set of postage stamps, banknotes, etc., of a particular issue; (more generally) any collection of items (as cigarette cards, etc.) issued at the same time or so as to form a set. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > [noun] > set of coins series1611 the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > group > set of things to be used or made together > of coins, medals, stamps, etc. series1611 1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. vii. xii. 312/2 No Nation in Europe can..come to so true a series of their Soueraignes Coines, as England is able at this day to doe. 1697 R. Gale tr. L. Jobert Knowl. Medals 28 A Gold or Silver series of Medals. 1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 128 Among the many and particular Series's collected by him, he has 800 Medals of Colony's, 1500 Greek Coins, and 1200 Egyptian. 1784 J. Pinkerton Ess. Medals 3 Serieses of Roman coins. 1863 Stamp-collector's Mag. 1 27/2 After the 5 soldi red of the new issue..appeared, the black of the older series..was superseded by a green of the same sort. 1879 H. Phillips Addit. Notes upon Coins 3 The present medal is one of a series struck to commemorate this occurrence. 1907 Lancet 16 Feb. 471/1 A fresh series of 5-franc notes is about to be issued. 1976 Mariner's Mirror 62 186 An excellent series of large cigarette cards in colour covered the figureheads of various ships. 1978 Sunday Tel. 29 Jan. (Colour Suppl.) 39 (advt.) A beautifully designed pack containing the unique series of stamps..to be issued by the Crown Agents. 2007 Stamp & Coin Mart Jan. 97/2 The first coin in the series was released in November 2004 and depicted the little spotted kiwi. b. A set or class of motor vehicles, aircraft, etc., developed over a period and sharing many features of design or assembly.Often with modifier, such as a numeral or sequential letter, denoting the particular set or class; cf. model n. 13e. ΘΚΠ society > travel > air or space travel > a means of conveyance through the air > [noun] > an aircraft > a group of aircraft > developed class sharing design features series1921 society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > motor vehicle > of specific design or brand > set or class of series1921 1921 Automobile Jrnl. Mar. 3 (advt.) Lexington is the car that has created a wave of favorable comment for features only Lexington has to offer... All Series ‘S’ and Series ‘T’ models equipped with cord tires. 1953 W. A. Shrader Fifty Years of Flight 124/2 Spratt Aircraft Co...test-flies another in a series of tilt-wing flying boats designed by George Spratt. 1970 K. Ball Fiat 600, 600D Autobook i. 9/2 Early models of the 600D series incorporated a centrifugal oil filter alone. 1988 Flight Internat. 17 Dec. 13/1 Hazelton Airlines of New South Wales, Australia, has ordered its first Shorts 360, a .300 series aircraft. 1994 Guardian 28 Sept. i. 2 (caption) Jaguar's parent company Ford yesterday revealed its new XJ6 series, a £300 million investment to be shown at next month's Birmingham motor show. 2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 1 Oct. d9/1 European roads frequently have higher speed limits than do those in the United States, letting drivers test the upper limits of a new BMW 3 Series or a Porsche 911. 8. Mathematics. A set of terms in ordered succession (finite or infinite in number), the value of each of which is determined by its ordinal position or by the preceding term or terms, in accordance with a definite rule; esp. a set of such terms added together (contrasted with sequence n. 3c(b)). Also in figurative contexts.exponential, geometric, harmonic, infinite, recurring series, also Dirichlet, Fibonacci, Fourier, Maclaurin's, Taylor's series: see the first element. reversion of series: see reversion n.¹ 5b. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > numerical arrangement > [noun] > set > sequence > series series1656 1656 T. Hobbes Six Lessons v. 47 in Elements Philos. In a Series (or a Row) of Quantities, beginning from a Point, or Cypher, and proceeding according to the order of the square Numbers, as 0, 1, 4, 9, 16, &c. to finde what Proportion the whole Series hath to so many times the greatest. 1668 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 3 641 In it the Author hath delivered a new Method Analytical for giving the Aggregate of an Infinite or Indefinite converging Series. 1674 M. Dary Let. 15 Oct. in I. Newton Corr. (1959) I. 326 Every term in this series brings you nearer and nearer, for if your supposition be too great, every term in this series makes it less and less; or if your supposition be too litle, every term in this series makes it greater and greater. 1734 Builder's Dict. I. at Equidifferent If in a Series of three Quantities, there be the same Difference between the first and second, as there is between the second and third, they are said to be continually equidifferent. 1753 Philos. Trans. 1751–2 (Royal Soc.) 47 20 The operation, by having two or more series's to multiply into one another, becomes very troublesome. 1791 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 81 148 The serieses deduced should converge. 1836 J. Gilbert Christian Atonem. ii. 59 To examine in detail the series, of which the computed sum betrays at once somewhere in the calculation so gross an error. 1839 R. Murphy Algebr. Equat. 92 Recurring Series have been much used..in the solution of algebraical equations. 1853 W. Whewell Plural. Worlds v. 76 We have here to build a theory without materials;—to sum a series of which every term, so far as we know, is nothing. 1908 T. J. I'A. Bromwich Introd. Theory Infinite Series ii. 22 If all the terms..of the series are positive, the sequence..steadily increases. 1939 E. C. Titchmarsh Theory of Functions (ed. 2) xii. 423 Parseval's formula therefore holds if the series is summed. 1972 M. Kline Math. Thought xx. 461 Leibniz..noted..that a series whose terms alternate in sign and decrease in absolute value monotonically to zero converges. 2002 D. Acheson 1089 & all That viii. 77 But infinite processes in mathematics aren't just about summing series or finding areas. 9. a. A set of literary compositions having certain features in common, published successively or intended to be read in sequence. In later use also: a succession of books of any kind issued by a publisher in a common format and having some similarity of subject or purpose, usually under an overall title. ΘΚΠ society > communication > book > series or set > [noun] setc1600 series1711 society > communication > book > series or set > [noun] > of same or similar form library1692 series1883 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 106. ¶6 [The Chaplain] has digested them [sc. Sermons] into such a Series, that they follow one another naturally. 1741 (title) The champion: containing a series of papers, humourous, moral, political, and critical. 1783 J. Beattie Diss. Moral & Crit. 300 The Decameron..is a series of novels; whereof some are grave, others comical, and many indecent. 1823 London Lit. Gaz. 8 Nov. 710/3 The little volume before us is..an agreeable appendix to the Waverley series. 1883 Harper's Mag. July 310/2 The volume..which has been contributed to the ‘American Statesmen’ series by Mr. John T. Morse, Jun. 1925 W. Faulkner Let. in Thinking of Home (1992) 180 When my series of stories begins, please keep the copies I send you, and we can make a scrap book of them some day. 1950 Rotarian Aug. 47/3 James Fenimore Cooper..maintains the high standard..set by the preceding volumes in the new American Men of Letters Series. 1982 B. Searles et al. Reader's Guide to Fantasy 77 Besides a couple of novels in the ‘Conan’ series, Howard's major long work is Almuric. 2001 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 2 Dec. 69/1 Those who have read and, more importantly, enjoyed his [sc. Harry Potter's] adventures in J.K. Rowling's series of novels..will no doubt flock to see this big-screen version. b. A succession of volumes or parts of a periodical, publications of a society, etc., which together form a discrete, usually numbered, set.Rolls Series: see roll n.¹ Compounds 2. ΚΠ 1796 (title) A continuation of the general index to the Monthly Review; commencing at the seventy-first, and ending with the eighty-first, volume; completing the first series of that work. 1801 Monthly Rev. Mar. 309 In our next Appendix, we shall pay our respects to the second series of these Transactions of the National Institute [of France]. 1805 Mem. Literary & Philos. Soc. Manch. 2nd Ser. Advt. These considerations have induced the Society to commence a second series, and they have accordingly denominated this the first volume of the series. 1888 Athenæum 17 Nov. 665/2 So many volumes are now comprised in the current series of All the Year Round that Mr. Dickens is going to start a new series in January. 1931 E. Pound Let. 27 Dec. (1971) 237 The continuation [of a magazine] can be called Poetry, Second Series, or new series. 2006 S. Lewis Anc. Tyranny 261 In the supplement series of the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society. c. A related sequence of feature films, albums of recorded music or speech, or video games released successively, usually under an overall title. ΚΠ 1913 Chicago Tribune 30 Dec. 3/5 The initial productions of a series of films showing ‘The Adventures of Kathlyn’ were given yesterday in several Chicago theaters. 1918 Boston Daily Globe 2 Mar. 2/4 An interesting new series of records, especially for children, is announced. 1943 Billboard 18 Sept. 65/3 Its Brunswick Collectors' Series of albums devoted to le jazz hot. 1984 Financial Times 29 Dec. 9/6 The sharpest buy is a compilation album of hits like Now that's what I call music. This series is already in its fourth edition. 1993 Empire Aug. 75/1 Jurassic Park finds its Spielbergian forerunners in Jaws, E.T. and the Indiana Jones series. 2005 Wired Nov. 70/1 The Grand Theft Auto series popularized the ‘sandbox’ game environment, a city-sized 3-D space in which you can roam freely. d. A set of radio or television programmes broadcast in sequence, usually in regular episodes, and typically having a single theme or continuous storyline. Cf. serial n. 1c.Recorded earliest in radio series n. at radio n. Compounds 1b. See also miniseries n., television series n. at television n. Compounds 2b. ΘΚΠ society > communication > broadcasting > radio broadcasting > [noun] > types of programme radio show1921 children's hour1923 series1923 scrap-book1933 postscript1940 write-in1947 radiothon1953 society > communication > broadcasting > television > [noun] > type of programme dramedy1905 news film1912 sex comedy1915 television adaptation1935 action comedy1936 sportcast1939 teleshopper1949 telethon1949 special1952 television special1952 TV special1952 science-fictioner1953 spectacular1954 promo1955 sitcom1956 spec1959 spin-off1959 reality programming1962 teleroman1964 mockumentary1965 serialization1965 talk show1965 laugh-in1967 novela1968 reality show1968 breakfast television1971 spy series1975 reality television1978 reality TV1980 series1988 shockumentary1988 1923 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 26 Mar. 8/8 The following talk was given at ‘The Courant’ radio station WDAK... It is the fourth of the Aetna radio series. 1924 Art News 24 May 6/1 There is to be given by the agency of the radio broadcasting stations a series of art lectures... In this first series it is proposed to discuss the great works..of the various countries and periods. 1933 Radio Times 14 Apr. 120/1 Tonight Mr. James Agate ‘presents’ perhaps the greatest..star of this glittering series. 1962 Listener 11 Oct. 581/2 A series, Zero One, opened with an episode called Stone Face. 1988 J. Trollope Choir i. 6 The lady producer at Granada Television..wished to come down to Ardminster for a series she was making on elitism in education. 2010 Daily Tel. 25 Mar. 34/2 Ashes to Ashes and Life on Mars have stood as flagbearers for quality, popular drama series. 10. Chiefly Biology. A group of organisms or (formerly) mineral substances, or types of these, exhibiting similar characteristics or a constant relation between successive members; (now usually) a taxonomic category corresponding to such a group, in early use typically ranking above or immediately below the level of class, but now generally constituting a distinct subdivision within a diverse order, genus, section of a genus, or other taxon. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > organism > [noun] structure1683 organization1707 individual1746 series1748 organism1834 macroorganism1941 1748 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. I. Pref. sig. a They were easily, according to their several more general characters, arrang'd into the several Series nature had ordain'd of them. The different subjects of these Series more minutely examin'd, were afterwards found to have their several secondary alliances in distinct sets..; and the dividing the several series into these sets gave the different Classes of Fossils. 1753 Monthly Rev. Jan. 18 Animals, then, being arranged under six general series, or families, this volume is divided into as many parts. 1768 Monthly Rev. Aug. 136 Mr. Forster..divides the several subjects which constitute the fossil kingdom into five classes, viz. earths, stones, salts, inflammables, and metals.—Each class again is divided into series; and each series into genera. 1823 H. J. Brooke Familiar Introd. Crystallogr. 100 When the sets of new planes..are so much extended as entirely to efface the primary planes, a series of entirely new solids will result. 1857 A. Gray First Lessons Bot. xxviii. 177 The following schedule..comprises all that are generally used in a natural classification,..Series, Class, Subclass [etc.]. 1878 W. H. Dallinger in Nature 23 May 102/2 A hitherto unrecorded organism belonging to the septic series. 1936 Amer. Midland Naturalist 17 349 The order [Xenarthra] is divided into two groups, series Loricata, represented by the existing armadillos and the allied extinct glyptodonts; and series Pilosa represented by the existing tree-sloths and ant eaters and the extinct ground-sloths. 1978 Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 71 32 The series Scapifoliae, characterized by an inflorescence of spirally arranged bracts subtended by a foliage leaf,..included the following species: Calathea humilis, C. rossii, [etc.]. 2008 S. J. Kays & S. F. Nottingham Biol. & Chem. Jerusalem Artichoke iii. 31 The Helianthus genus is separated into four sections, which are subdivided into a number of series based upon genetic and morphological characteristics. 11. Geology. a. A set of successive deposits or formations having some common fossil or mineral features; an assemblage of successive, usually conformable, strata. In chronostratigraphy: a range of strata corresponding to an epoch in time, being a subdivision of a system and itself subdivided into stages; the rocks deposited during a specified epoch. Frequently with distinguishing word.The International Geological Congress (see quot. 1881) adopted a scheme of nomenclature in which the stratigraphical terms group (no longer used), system, series, and stage (in decreasing order of comprehensiveness) correspond to the terms era, period, epoch, and age for time intervals. Cf. group n. 5a(c), system n. 8, stage n. 1i(a). ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [noun] series1799 system1823 terrain1823 stage1859 group1865 section1882 horizon1926 cyclothem1932 succession1940 range zone1957 the world > the earth > structure of the earth > structural features > sedimentary formation > [noun] > repeated units in series1799 varve1912 rhythmite1937 the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [noun] > corresponding to time unit series1799 group1865 1799 tr. B. Faujas-de-St.-Fond Trav. in Eng., Scotl., & Hebrides II. xviii. 328 On piercing through the toad-stone..the vein as certainly makes its reappearance, and this fact they affirm holds good through every series of strata to any depth. 1802 R. Jameson in Jrnl. Nat. Philos., Chem., & Arts Sept. 13 Professor Playfair..mentions several instances of mechanical deposits and petrefactions which have been discovered among the primary strata, and from these he concludes, that no such series of strata as the transition [rocks] exist. 1822 W. D. Conybeare Outl. Geol. ii. iii. §2. 181 A zone of argilleo-calcareous beds belonging to the Purbeck series. 1836 W. Buckland Geol. & Mineral. I. ix. 76 The Tertiary Series introduces a system of new phenomena, presenting formations in which the remains of animal and vegetable life approach gradually nearer to species of our own epoch. 1881 Geol. Mag. 2nd Decade 8 558 The final result of the discussions was the adoption of terms in the following order, the most comprehensive being placed first:..Series..Epoch... As equivalents of Series, the terms Section or Abtheilung may be used... According to this scheme, we would speak of the Palæozoic Group or Era, the Silurian System or Period, the Ludlow Series or Epoch, and the Aymestry Stage or Age. 1898 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 6 355 The faunas of the Trenton limestone, the Utica and Hudson River shales are very intimately related, and that relation should be indicated by grouping the three together as stages of a single series. 1931 J. W. Gregory & B. H. Barrett Gen. Stratigr. x. 155 In Scotland the Upper Estuarine Series includes the Brora Coal seam, of which the roof is Callovian. 1949 A. E. Trueman Geol. & Scenery Eng. & Wales xiv. 188 The rocks..known as the Borrowdale Volcanic Series..include thick beds of lava together with other rocks..produced during the volcanic explosions. 1985 E. H. Colbert Wandering Lands & Animals (new ed.) ii. 63 This aligned series of folded rocks—the Gondwanide Fold Belt, as it may be called—is a structural feature linking the several parts of Gondwanaland. 2001 Nature 22 Mar. p. ix/4 A remarkably preserved assemblage of fossils from the Silurian (Wenlock Series) of Herefordshire, UK, spans a 100-million-year period around 425 million years ago. b. A group of igneous rocks erupted or emplaced successively and displaying a gradation of petrographical characteristics. ΚΠ 1844 C. Darwin Geol. Observ. vi. 123 Is it not more probable, that these dikes have been formed by fissures penetrating into partially cooled rocks of the granitic and metamorphic series, and by their more fluid parts,..oozing out, and being sucked into such fissures?] 1892 J. P. Iddings Origin Igneous Rocks 122 The whole group of eruptions forms a continuous series of rocks which merge into one another petrographically and chemically. 1909 J. P. Iddings Igneous Rocks I. ii. iii. 408 The term series should be applied to groups of rocks characterized by similarity of certain chemical or mineral constituents and by variations in others; the rocks being members of one family. Series may traverse the general system of classification in various directions. 1975 A. E. Kingwood Composition & Petrol. Earth's Mantle vii. 243 The behaviour of the orogenic series is fundamentally different from that of the tholeiitic and alkalic series. 2006 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 114 253/2 The El Tanque ash is the most silicic member of the medium‐K series. 12. A set of alloys or minerals having the same chemical composition except for the relative proportions of two elements that can replace one another. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > alloy > [noun] > other types of alloy white metala1387 hard metal1577 series1807 aggregate1908 superalloy1920 1807 J. Murray Syst. Chem. III. vi. xii. 378 A series of alloys is formed from the combination of copper with tin, sufficiently important to require more particular notice. 1855 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 10 249 We..prepared a series of alloys in which copper predominated. 1859 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 148 357 The alloys of a series such as those of 2 equivalents of bismuth and 1 of lead, 3 Bi and 1 Pb, 4 Bi and 1 Pb, 5 Bi and 1 Pb, all conduct the same. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 512/2 In other groups [of minerals] the replacement may be indefinite in extent, and between the ends of the series the different members may vary indefinitely in composition. 1914 C. H. Desch Intermediate Compounds vi. 50 The compound Mg₃Bi₂ has a conductivity very near that of bismuth, and the two series Mg–Mg₃Bi₂ and Mg₃Bi₂–Bi are simple conglomerates. 1971 I. G. Gass et al. Understanding Earth i. 17/1 The plagioclase feldspars show a slightly more complex type of ionic replacement and form the series NaAlSi₃O₈ (albite)–CaAl₂Si₂O₈ (anorthite). 2009 Jrnl. Alloys & Compounds 468 484/1 Two series of alloys were prepared to study the V-substitution in Ni without and with the compensating adjustments in Ti/Zr composition to maintain a constant average hydrogen-metal bond strength. 13. A number of electrical conductors connected end to end, each one to the preceding one, so that the same current flows through each.Usually attributive (see Compounds 1) or in in series at Phrases. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > transmission of electricity, conduction > [noun] > conductor > with regard to position series1831 return1852 outer1900 1831 B. Silliman Elements Chem. II. 637 If, (says Volta,) in a series of three conductors, which touch two and two, we place either a conductor of the second class between two different ones of the first, or [etc.]. 1843 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 8 2 The battery was sometimes used as a single series, with all its elements placed consecutively, and at others in two or three series, arranged collaterally. 1885 H. W. Watson & S. H. Burbury Math. Theory Electr. & Magn. I. 229 If any number of wires of different metals M₁, M₂, M₃, M₄ are joined together in series,..the wire of metal M₁ beginning and ending the series. 1953 Science 4 Dec. 694/2 A milliammeter is connected in a series to record the current passing through the strips. 1991 D. D. Pollock Thermocouples iv. 148 In this case,..series of conductors can be made to form the measuring junction of a thermocouple with no effect on its calibration. 14. a. Chemistry. A group of elements, compounds, or radicals having similar or progressively varying properties or structures, esp. a group of the periodic table; (also) a set of elements, compounds, or radicals arranged in order of magnitude of some property.acetic, actinide, butyric, electrochemical, electromotive, fatty acid, hydrocarbon, lanthanide, parafin series, etc.: see the first element. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > [noun] > elements > groups series1838 group1863 pnicogen1966 1838 T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 590 Oxamide. This substance, the first of the series of amides, was discovered by Dumas, in the year 1830. 1850 Q. Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 2 297 (heading) On a new series of organic bodies containing metals and phosphorus. 1869 H. E. Roscoe Lessons Elem. Chem. (new ed.) xxvii. 272 These homologous series of mono-, di-, tri-, and higher carbon groups. 1877 M. Foster Text Bk. Physiol. App. 520 The Acetic Acid Series..is one of the most complete homologous series of organic chemistry. 1922 J. W. Mellor Comprehensive Treat. Inorg. & Theoret. Chem. I. vi. 258 The valency of the elements shows a peculiar relation, for the maximum valency rises from 1 to 8 in passing along a given series from the first to the last group. 1943 Gloss. Terms Electr. Engin. (B.S.I.) 94 Electro-chemical series, a tabular arrangement of the elements in the order of the electrode potential developed when an element is immersed in a solution of normal ionic concentration. 1958 R. D. Connor in O. R. Frisch Nucl. Handbk. iv. §21 The second ‘rare earth’ series starts at actinium and is called the actinide series just as the original series starting at lanthanum is termed the lanthanide series. 1964 N. G. Clark Mod. Org. Chem. ii. 12 Members of the series may be represented by a general molecular formula, and each member differs from the next by CH₂; the paraffins have the general formula C_nH_{2n + 2}. 1999 T. Pratchett et al. Sci. of Discworld viii. 71 We can..predict the properties of eka-lead by extrapolating from those in the ‘lead’ series in the periodic table (carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, lead). 2010 Bioorganic & Medicinal Chem. 20 2178 A series of water soluble glycosylated sulfanilamides. b. = radioactive series n. at radioactive adj. Compounds. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > atomic nucleus > radioactive isotope > radioactive nuclide > [noun] > series series1903 radioactive series1907 1903 Rev. Amer. Chem. Res. 9 427 The radioactivity of a substance A and the rate at which it produces the next substance, B, in the series, are both proportional to the amount of A. 1904 F. Soddy Radio-activity xii. 172 Consider the case of a disintegration series in which there is a parent element, A, disintegrating at an excessively slow rate. 1926 R. W. Lawson tr. G. von Hevesy & F. A. Paneth Man. Radioactivity xxiv. 180 The resulting end-product of the uranium–radium series does not emit rays, and is hence stable. 1949 F. Soddy Story of Atomic Energy v. 50/2 The RaE changes to Radium F,..the last radio-element in the main uranium series. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia I. 67/2 The mass numbers of all isotopes of the so-called thorium series..turn out to be multiples of four, and the series is known as the 4n series. 2001 O. Sacks Uncle Tungsten xxiii. 285 The end points of each series were similar—radium G, actinium E, and thorium E, so-called, were all isotopes of lead. 15. a. Phonetics. A group of sounds which share a particular feature or features of articulation, but may be distinguished from one another on the basis of a further articulatory feature. ΚΠ 1844 T. H. Key Alphabet 25 In the Sanskrit alphabet, the series of guttural, palatal, lingual, dental, and labial consonants, have an n belonging to each class. 1895 P. Giles Short Man. Compar. Philol. ii. viii. 113 Osthoff argues that there were originally three series of guttural consonants [in Indo-Germanic], making the velars which are not followed by u̯ the third intermediate or ‘palato-velar’ series. 1952 A. Martinet in Word 8 13 A number of consonantal phonemes characterized by one and the same articulation will be said to form a ‘series’ if their other characteristic articulations can be located at different points along the air channel. Thus in English /p/, /t/, /č/, /k/,..will form a series, and so will /b/, /d/, /ǧ/, /g/. 1969 C. A. M. Baltaxe tr. N. S. Trubetzkoy Princ. Phonol. i. iv. 125 Many languages have two apical series, one characterized by the tip of the tongue pointed upward, the other by the tip of the tongue pointed downward, instead of a single series characterized by the participation of the tip of the tongue. 2003 S. Matthews & R. S. Bauer in G. Thurgood & R. J. LaPolla Sino-Tibetan Lang. ix. 147 In Hong Kong Cantonese, the series of alveolo-palatal consonants..occur as non-contrastive allophones. b. Linguistics. A set of sounds which together exemplify a pattern of phonological variation which takes place according to certain rules; a particular set of word forms which exemplify such variation. Usually with modifying word.Frequently with reference to the phenomenon of ablaut in Germanic and other Indo-European languages, esp. in ablaut series, gradation series. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > vowel > [noun] > ablaut > set of series1887 1887 Classical Rev. 1 64/2 We distinguish six gradation-series (Ablautsreihen). 1888 J. Wright Old High-German Primer 61 The vowels vary within certain series of related vowels, called ablaut-series. There are in OHG. six such series. 1891 A. L. Mayhew Synopsis Old Eng. Phonol. p. xvi The double colon (::) occurring between forms of words, is used to indicate ‘ablaut’ or change of grade in a vowel series. 1914 C. Harris German Gram. i. 106 The old strong verbs fall into six classes or gradation series. 1934 Language 10 129 A morpho-phoneme is one of a class of like phonemes considered as components of actual morphemes which behave alike morphologically, i.e., have a like place in the same mutation series. 1956 Mod. Lang. Notes 71 195 The pattern is based upon the radical vowel i of the first ablaut series. 2005 P. Head in A. Harbus & R. Poole Verbal Encounters iii. 56 The Germanic ablaut series kin-, kan-, kin- is also the root of Gothic *knaian.., Gothic kunnan.., and Germanic *kunþian. 16. a. Baseball. A set of games played usually on successive days between two teams.Subway, World Series: see the first element. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > game > series series1862 World Series1886 1862 N.Y. Sunday Mercury 13 July 6/3 This last game ended the series, and the players were to return this..morning. 1885 Washington Post 11 Oct. 2/6 (headline) Beaten the third time. The Baltimores lose their series with the Nationals. 1915 Chicago Tribune 8 June 13/8 The Cubs found their ardor chilled by another spell of weather and the third game of their series with New York was postponed. 1960 Time 3 Oct. 67/2 The Yankees have..individual stars who can rouse themselves to greatness and win a short series by themselves. 1973 Internat. Herald Tribune 15 June 15/4 It was the first time in almost a month that the Mets had won two straight. And it was the first time in exactly a month that they had captured a series. 2010 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 10 June b11/3 The Friday night pitcher is the ace of a college team, the one who pitches under the lights to open a weekend series. b. Sport. A sequence of games, races, or matches, the results of which determine an overall winner or champion; (Cricket and Rugby) a set of Test matches between two sides during a single (international) tour; cf. Test series n. at test n.¹ Additions. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > [noun] > cricket-match > series series1899 the ashes1903 1871 Turf, Field & Farm 6 Jan. 11/3 The [billiards] match..is the sixth of the new championship series, and involves, in addition to $1,000 in cash, the custody of the Diamond Cue. 1899 Baily's Mag. Aug. 144/1 At Lord's England suffered a crushing defeat by ten wickets. The third match of the series played at Leeds went better for the Old Country. 1912 A. A. Lilley Twenty-four Years Cricket xiv. 195 The only Test match of the tour that had a definite conclusion was the second of the series. 1929 Times 29 July 4/7 Australia has created a new record against New Zealand by beating them in three Tests in one series. 1954 Los Angeles Times 9 Aug. iv. 4/6 Walter Trepte..brought his big yawl Evening Star home second yesterday in the third and final race to win the large-boat ocean-racing series. 1976 Economist 3 Jan. 68/2 The final test in New Zealand, which the All Blacks had to win to square the series. 1992 Autosport 23 Apr. 11/1 Ex-Vauxhall Lotus driver and newcomer to the series, Mark Goddard, earned a commendable 5th place on the grid. 2007 Wisden Cricketer July (Sri Lanka Suppl.) 9/2 I have many very happy memories of touring Sri Lanka, especially in 2000–1..when we came back from 1–0 down to win the series. 17. Physics. A set of related lines in a spectrum, spec. a set in which the frequencies of the lines are mathematically related in a fairly simple way.The most significant series in the spectrum of atomic hydrogen are named: see Lyman n., Balmer n.³, Paschen n. 2, Brackett n., and Pfund series n. The first series to be discovered was the Balmer series, in 1885. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > chromatism > [noun] > spectrum > in a series order1704 series1886 1886 Science 11 June 528/2 The five series of lines in the low-temperature spectrum of carbo-hydrogen. 1890 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 58 ii. 674 The corresponding components of the pairs form series whose wave-numbers are functions of the successive natural numbers. 1890 J. R. Rydberg in London, Edinb., & Dublin Philos. Mag. 29 335 K (D₁, 4) denotes the fourth line of the first diffuse series of the spectrum of potassium. 1936 N. Feather Introd. Nucl. Physics v. 85 The first proof of the concentration of heavy hydrogen (H²)..was obtained in this way—in the spectrum of the enriched gas a second Balmer series appeared slightly shifted with respect to the first. 1952 R. W. Ditchburn Light xvii. 543 These formulæ suggest that the wave numbers of all these series may be expressed as differences of a set of wave numbers which are known as spectroscopic ‘terms’. 1978 E. P. Bertin Introd. X-ray Spectrometr. Anal. i. 37 X-ray spectral lines are grouped in series K, L, M, N; all lines in a series result from electron transitions from various higher orbitals to the indicated shell. 2005 E. Habart et al. in C. Cesarsky & A. Salama ISO Sci. Legacy 87 Infrared Space Observatory provided a fundamental step forward in that it enabled us for the first time to exploit the potential of the pure rotational series of H². 18. A collection of rough diamonds offered for sale in a single consignment; spec. a collection of diamonds chosen to be representative of the output of a particular mine. Cf. parcel n. 9b. ΚΠ 1900 Rep. Commerc. Relations U.S. with Foreign Countries 1899 (U.S. Dept. of State) II. 490 The industry has been damaged by..the growing remissness in assorting, technically ‘making’ the series of diamonds. 1904 G. F. Kunz in D. T. Day Mineral Resources U.S. 1902 862 The series is made up so that when a dealer buys a ‘series’, he buys every quality of diamond found in the mine in the proportion in which they are produced at that time. 1949 Changing Times June 18/1 The dealers..must buy a ‘series’ of diamonds—including grades they may not want as well as grades they desire. 1982 E. J. Epstein Rise & Fall Diamonds vi. 62 [He] arranges a ‘series’ of diamonds for each client in which the less profitable diamonds are mixed in with the more profitable gems. Under no circumstances may clients pick from this series the diamonds they want. They must accept all—or none. 19. Soil Science. = soil series n. at soil n.¹ Compounds 2. Also with distinguishing word. ΘΚΠ the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > [noun] > soil group series1904 soil series1905 soil class1913 soil group1921 catena1935 soil association1939 1904 Ann. Rep. U.S. Dept. Agric. 1903–4 269 These types have been arranged in 31 series, in which the soils are related in point of origin. 1917 J. G. Mosier & A. F. Gustafson Soil Physics & Managem. viii. 79 The Cecil series include the most important and widely distributed soils of the Piedmont Plateau. 1952 L. M. Thompson Soils & Soil Fertility vi. 86 Several of the great soil groups of the United States include hundreds of series. 1970 E. M. Bridges World Soils v. 34/2 The Ettrick Association derived from Silurian greywackes and shales has six component series in the Jedburgh and Morebattle district. 2003 F. S. Gilliam & M. R. Roberts Herbaceous Layer Forests Eastern N. Amer. viii. 206 Dry-mesic sites with soils of the Rubicon series (sandy, mixed, frigid Entic Haplorthods), derived from glacial outwash deposits. 20. Music. An arrangement of notes of the chromatic scale (usually all twelve) used as the basis for a piece of serial music; = tone-row n. at tone n. Compounds 2. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > music > musical sound > pitch > system of sounds or intervals > [noun] > arrangement of chromatic scale series1930 row1936 tone-row1936 note-series1947 note-row1955 1930 Mod. Music 7 iv. 5 The tonal material of a composition [by Schönberg] is a series of Twelve tones, borrowed from the chromatic scale and grouped in a special arrangement... The word ‘series’ is by no means identical with the idea of ‘theme’... The series is to be considered rather as a tone-complex, whose successions and intervalic relations always recur. 1940 E. Křenek Stud. Counterpoint p. viii The primary function of the series is that of a sort of ‘store of motifs’ out of which all the individual elements of the composition are to be developed. 1981 P. Griffiths Mod. Music 90 His [sc. Berio's] Nones for orchestra (1954) is quite clearly based on a 13-note series. 2009 R. Scruton Understanding Music iii. 36 When I listen to a piece written in the idiom of twelve-tone serialism I may recognize that all the notes of the series have been exhausted except one—G sharp, say. 21. Anglican Church. With specifying number: each of three experimental alternative forms of service used in the Church of England between 1965 and 1980. Cf. sense 9b.These forms of service were replaced in 1980 by those given in the Alternative Service Book. ΚΠ 1965 (title) Alternative services: first series. 1965 (title) Alternative services: second series. 1967 Church Q. Rev. 168 442 It is undoubtedly the rite of Series 2 which points the way forward. 1971 Churchman 85 212 The amended text..has now been published as Holy Communion: Series 3. 1977 B. Pym Quartet in Autumn i. 15 What would be the reaction of the congregation if Father G. tried to introduce Series Three? 2009 N. H. Taylor Lay Presidency at Eucharist? 2 The usage..was introduced to the liturgy of the Church of England with Series 3 in 1971. Phrases in series. a. So as to follow on in succession (of time or order); one after another, in sequence. ΚΠ 1751 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. II. 69 A number of naked seeds, arranged in series like the beads of a necklace. 1765 W. Ward Ess. Gram. vi. i. 256 The most common..occurrences, are expressed in every language by words so placed in series, that the words will easily go off the tongue of the speaker. 1802 Port Folio 25 Dec. 402/2 His sketches of political parties..taken together, and in series, constitute outlines which..might make a very valuable work. a1877 T. M. Herbert Realistic Assumptions Mod. Sci. Examined (1879) ii. 249 Conscious states occur in series..; that is to say, one passes away, and gives place to another. 1954 Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland) 1 Apr. 18/1 The individual staff darkrooms..are arranged in series along a safelighted corridor within the department. 1990 Achievement Sept. 7/1 A philosophy which means overlapping some activities which you conventionally do in series. b. So as to form or maintain a single electrical path between two points; (also) connected in this way. Also in extended use, with reference to any analogous system through which something passes. Frequently with with. Contrasted with in parallel. ΚΠ 1836 J. F. Daniell in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 126 111 The same quantity of force is generated and expended in the cells in both combinations: but when in series, no connecting wire conveys more than the quantity generated in one cell to the next. 1888 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1887 616 The current through the coils of the second magnet may be controlled by the addition of a resistance in series with it. 1910 Encycl. Brit. IV. 520/2 The ‘continuous’ kiln..is really made up of a number of separate kilns or firing-chambers, built in series and connected..in such a manner that the products of combustion from one kiln may be made to pass through a number of other kilns. 1922 Proc. IRE 10 249 It was necessary to use a two-electrode tube in series with the auxiliary emf. 1959 Electronic Engin. 31 330 The collector and emitter of the transistor are connected in series. 1971 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Aug. 107/1 Gas pressure in the accelerator tube is controlled by a pair of oil diffusion pumps that operate in series. 2006 Sci. Amer. (U.K. ed.) Sept. 94/1 In a car battery, six cells, each contributing two volts, are connected in series to make a 12-volt battery. Compounds C1. (in sense 13). a. attributive. Relating to or involving electrical connection in series; arranged or connected in series. ΚΠ 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts 3rd Ser. 125/1 The ordinary or series dynamo. 1888 Scribner's Mag. Aug. 194/2 The ‘series’ system..may be likened to the arrangement of disks on the chain of a chain-pump. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 587/2 Fig. 33, illustrating the series machine, shows the winding of the exciting coils to be composed of a few turns of thick wire. 1926 R. W. Hutchinson First Course Wireless vi. 101 In the above example of resonance the capacity and inductance were in series and such a case is often referred to as series resonance. 1962 G. A. T. Burdett Automatic Control Handbk. i. 26 The outstanding characteristic of the d.c. series motor is powerful torque at starting and also at low speeds. 1974 P. K. Harvey & K. J. Bohlman Stereo F.M. Radio Handbk. iii. 51 The attenuation produced by the series insertion of a crystal into a circuit operating at a variable frequency. 2004 J. de Kock & K. Strauss Pract. Power Distribution Industry iv. 70 Series capacitors are utilized to neutralize part of the inductive reactance of a power network. b. Forming adjectives with past participles, as series-connected, series-excited, series-tuned, series-wound, etc. ΚΠ 1883 Jrnl. Soc. Arts 12 Jan. 170/1 It is..possible to use as a motor any direct current dynamo, whether the field-magnets be series-wound, shunt-wound, separately excited, or permanently magnetised. 1889 U.S. Patent 406.494 1/1 It has also been proposed to regulate both separately-excited and series-excited constant-current dynamos by the winding of the field-magnet with a directly-connected shunt-coil. 1892 I. Sharpless et al. Nat. Philos. (rev. ed.) ix. 325 There are about four segments in the commutator of the Brush machine series connected,..and about sixty-four in the Edison armature connected in parallel. 1922 Brit. Patent 188,505 2/1 This effect may be obtained by using a separate series tuned circuit in series with the resistance. 1957 Pract. Wireless 32 379/1 (advt.) It is essential to use mains primary types with T.V. receivers having series-connected heaters. 1961 M. G. Say Electr. Engineer's Ref. Bk. (ed. 10) viii. 74 Especially in large pumps, a series-excited electromagnet is to be preferred. 1987 E. H. J. Pallett Aircraft Electr. Syst. (ed. 3) x. 175/2 The motor is of the series-wound split-field type. 2012 D. Fitzpatrick Analog Design & Simulation xi. 147 The series connection of the equivalent inductor and C1 forms a series tuned circuit which determines the frequency of the notch filter. C2. attributive in sense 16, as series champion, series defeat, series victory, etc. ΚΠ 1895 N.-Y. Times 2 Dec. i. 3/2 (heading) Coach Woodruff tells of Pennsylvania's football team... Star players led to the unbroken series victories. 1910 Bakersfield Californian 27 July ii Vernon took the series opener from Oakland yesterday, 2 to 1. 1921 Washington Post 21 Sept. 14/5 (heading) Series champions to play for Post trophy. 1954 Jet 14 Oct. 53 It was the Giants' first Series victory since 1933. 1975 Pop. Mech. Feb. 69 (caption) George Alderman, below in No. 32 Gremlin, won series finale to become '74 champion. 1985 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 10 Apr. The yacht shares the series lead on 51 points with Mooloolaba sloop Hot August Night. 1993 Star-Ledger (Newark) 22 Oct. 73 The Jays are looking to become..the first repeat Series champs since the Yankees in 1977–78. 2002 Times 7 Jan. (Sports Daily) 7/1 South Africa have little hope on the evidence of this traumatic series defeat, their first whitewash for 70 years. C3. attributive and objective in sense 9d, as series creator, series finale, series opener, etc. ΚΠ 1940 Washington Post 12 May vi. 5/1 Hendrik Willem van Loon and Courtney Ryley Cooper represent the writing profession in the summer series opener. 1969 Ebony Feb. 32/1 (caption) Bill Cosby..was an Emmy Award winner three years in a row as best dramatic series actor. 1982 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 22 Oct. 19 In the series premiere, Dame Margot focuses on the rise of the male dancer. 1992 M. Medved Hollywood vs. Amer. vi. xix. 339 Series creator Matt Groening noted that he had received a letter from a nuclear-power lobbying group saying his show ‘confused and frightened the American public’. 1999 T. Parsons Man & Boy (2000) xiv. 119 The two men in glasses on either side of her—the show's series producer and the series editor—smiled in agreement. 2007 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 28 June 14 I can't wait to find out what happens to [Dr] Who in the series finale this Saturday night. C4. series-parallel adj. involving a combination or alternation of series and parallel electrical connections; spec. designating a method of control of two or more electric traction motors in which the motors work in series on starting and are switched to parallel working when a certain speed is reached. ΚΠ 1894 K. Hedges Amer. Electr. Street Railways vi. 68 In the series parallel method of control, the motors are first connected in ‘series’. 1957 Railway Mag. June 427/2 The operating voltage is 500 volts d.c., with orthodox series-parallel control for the four-motor equipments. 1968 Radio Communication Handbk. (ed. 4) i. 13/2 This is the value of the equivalent inductance of the four coils in this series-parallel arrangement. 2004 Backwoods Home Mag. July 49/1 In any series-parallel battery layout, make sure you do not have more than two cables connected to any single battery flag terminal. series-resonant adj. (of a tuned circuit or device) displaying resonance (resonance n. 6) when a load or supply is connected in series; relating to such resonance. ΚΠ 1911 B. V. Swenson & B. Frankenfield Testing Electro-magn. Machinery II. 11 (caption) Connections for a series resonant circuit; resistance, capacity and emf. constant, variable inductance. 1935 A. R. Nilson & J. L. Hornung Pract. Radio Communication viii. 349 It will be necessary to attenuate the high frequencies... This may be accomplished by introducing a series-resonant circuit similar to that used for scratch filters. 1970 Single Sideband for Radio Amateur (Amer. Radio Relay League) (ed. 5) i. 20/1 The circuit has both a series-resonant frequency and a parallel-resonant frequency. 2000 P. Scherz Pract. Electronics for Inventors ix. 282 The Pierce oscillator, which uses a JFET amplifier stage, employs a crystal as a series-resonant feedback element. series spectrum n. Physics a spectrum consisting of a series (sense 17) of lines. ΚΠ 1897 Nature 19 Aug. 388/1 (title) Series spectra of oxygen, sulphur, and selenium, by C. Runge and F. Paschen. 1974 G. Reece tr. F. Hund Hist. Quantum Theory vii. 100 With the aid of the n, l, j scheme it was possible to understand the multiplicity of the terms in the optical series spectra for atoms with one, two or three external electrons. 2010 L. Golub & J. M. Pasachoff Solar Corona (ed. 2) iii. 62 They have relatively simple series spectra and they constitute the elements in the first column of the periodic table. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2013; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1594
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