ordinal

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ōrdinālis, adjective formed from noun ōrdō (“order”), + adjective suffix -ālis.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔː.dɪ.nəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɹ.dɪ.nəl/
• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈoː.dɪ.nəl/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)dɪnəl, -ɔːɹdnəl

Adjective

ordinal (not comparable)

1. (mathematics, of a number) Indicating position in a sequence.

   "Three" is a cardinal number, while "third" is the corresponding ordinal number.

2. (taxonomy) Pertaining to a taxon at the rank of order.
3. (nautical) Intercardinal.

Coordinate terms

• nominal, cardinal, interval, ratio

Derived terms

• biordinal
• disordinal
• extraordinal
• infraordinal
• interordinal
• intraordinal
• nonordinal
• ordinal adjective
• ordinal date
• ordinal direction
• ordinal indicator
• ordinalism
• ordinality
• ordinally
• ordinal number
• ordinal numeral
• ordinal rank
• ordinal scale
• ordinal variable
• subordinal
• supraordinal, superordinal

Related terms

• ordain
• order
• ordinal
• ordinance, ordnance
• ordinary
• ordinate
• ordination
• ordo

With prefixes

• coordinate, coordination
• foreordination
• insubordination
• postordination
• preordination
• reordination
• subordinate, subordination
• subordination
• superordination

Translations

indicating position in a numerical sequence

• Armenian: դասական (hy) (dasakan)
• Bulgarian: реден (bg) (reden)
• Czech: řadový (cs) m, pořadový m
• Finnish: ordinaalinen
• French: ordinal (fr), ordinaux (fr) m pl
• Georgian: რიგობითი (rigobiti), რიგობრივი (rigobrivi), რიგითი (rigiti)
• German: ordinal (de)
• Hungarian: sorszám (hu)
• Indonesian: ordinal (id)
• Latin: ordinalis
• Portuguese: ordinal (pt)
• Russian: поря́дковый (ru) m (porjádkovyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: redni (sh)
• Spanish: ordinal (es)
• Tagalog: panunod
• Welsh: trefnol

taxonomy: of or relating to orders

• Finnish: lahkon (fi), lahko- (fi)

See also

• ordinal on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Level of measurement on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Noun

ordinal (plural ordinals)

1. An ordinal number such as first, second and third.
   • 2005, F. M. Wheelock, Wheelock’s Latin, 6th revised edition, page 97:

     The most common numerals in Latin, as in English, are the "cardinals" […] and the "ordinals" […]

2. A book used in the ordination of Anglican ministers, or in certain Roman Catholic services
3. (cryptocurrencies) A unique serial number assigned to a satoshi based on its position in the blockchain.

Derived terms

• biordinal
• limit ordinal
• p-adic ordinal

Translations

ordinal number — see also ordinal number

• Breton: niver petvediñ (pl niveroù petvediñ)
• Bulgarian: числително редно (čislitelno redno)
• Danish: ordenstal (da) n, ordinaltal n
• Finnish: ordinaali, ordinaalilukusana (word); ordinaaliluku (fi) (number), järjestysluku (fi)
• French: ordinal m (pl ordinaux)
• Georgian: რიგობითი რიცხვი (rigobiti ricxvi)
• Serbo-Croatian: redni broj m
• Tagalog: bilang na panunod
• Welsh: trefnolyn m

book

• Finnish: ordinaali

References

• “ordinal”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Arnoldi, Lorinda, Rodinal, nail rod

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ordinālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [ur.diˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Northwestern) [or.diˈnal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [oɾ.ðiˈnal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

ordinal m or f (masculine and feminine plural ordinals)

1. ordinal

Derived terms

• nombre ordinal

Related terms

• orde
• ordenar

Further reading

• “ordinal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “ordinal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “ordinal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “ordinal”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ordinālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔʁ.di.nal/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

Adjective

ordinal (feminine ordinale, masculine plural ordinaux, feminine plural ordinales)

1. ordinal

Related terms

• ordinaire
• ordonner
• ordre

Descendants

• → Romanian: ordinal

Further reading

• “ordinal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch ordinaal (“ordinal”), from French ordinal, from Latin ōrdinālis, adjective formed from noun ōrdō (“order”), + adjective suffix -ālis.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /orˈdinal/ [orˈdi.nal]
• Rhymes: -inal
• Syllabification: or‧di‧nal

Adjective

ordinal (comparative lebih ordinal, superlative paling ordinal)

1. (mathematics, statistics) ordinal

Further reading

• “ordinal”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-der.

Proto-Italic *ordōder.

Latin ōrdō

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin ōrdinālisbor.

Portuguese ordinal

Borrowed from Latin ōrdinālis.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oʁ.d͡ʒiˈnaw/ [oɦ.d͡ʒiˈnaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oʁ.d͡ʒiˈnaw/ [oɦ.d͡ʒiˈnaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /oɾ.d͡ʒiˈnaw/ [oɾ.d͡ʒiˈnaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /oʁ.d͡ʒiˈnaw/ [oʁ.d͡ʒiˈnaʊ̯]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /oɻ.d͡ʒiˈnaw/ [oɻ.d͡ʒiˈnaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔɾ.diˈnal/ [ɔɾ.ðiˈnaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔɾ.diˈnal/ [ɔɾ.ðiˈnaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔɾ.diˈna.li/

• Rhymes: -al, -aw
• Hyphenation: or‧di‧nal

Adjective

ordinal m or f (plural ordinais)

1. ordinal (indicating position in a numerical sequence)

Related terms

• ordem
• ordenar

Further reading

• “ordinal”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “ordinal”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ordinal. By surface analysis, ordin +‎ -al.

Adjective

ordinal m or n (feminine singular ordinală, masculine plural ordinali, feminine/neuter plural ordinale)

1. ordinal

Declension

Declension of ordinal

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	ordinal		ordinală	ordinali	ordinale
	definite	ordinalul		ordinala	ordinalii	ordinalele
genitive- dative	indefinite	ordinal		ordinale	ordinali	ordinale
	definite	ordinalului		ordinalei	ordinalilor	ordinalelor

Spanish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-der.

Proto-Italic *ordōder.

Latin ōrdō

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin ordinālisbor.

Spanish ordinal

Borrowed from Latin ordinālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oɾdiˈnal/ [oɾ.ð̞iˈnal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: or‧di‧nal

Adjective

ordinal m or f (masculine and feminine plural ordinales)

1. ordinal

Derived terms

• adjetivo ordinal
• ordinalmente

Related terms

• orden
• ordenar

Further reading

• “ordinal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025