Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

serial

 
(sîr'ē-əl) pronunciation
adj.
  1. Of, forming, or arranged in a series.
    1. Published or produced in installments, as a novel or television drama.
    2. Relating to such publication or production.
  2. Responsible for a series of usually criminal acts over a period of time: a serial arsonist.
  3. Music. Relating to or based on a row of tones, especially the 12 pitches of the chromatic scale.
  4. Computer Science.
    1. Of or relating to the sequential transmission of all the bits of a byte over one wire: a serial port; a serial printer.
    2. Of or relating to the sequential performance of multiple operations: serial processing.
n.
A literary or dramatic work published or produced in installments.

serially se'ri·al·ly adv.

Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Film presented in a series of episodes over several months. The serials, usually adventure melodramas, probably developed from the adventure stories published in monthly installments in magazines. The first internationally popular serial, The Perils of Pauline (1914), starring Pearl White, was followed by other serials such as The Hazards of Helen, which ran for 119 episodes (1914 – 17). Serials focused on action sequences, with cliff-hanging endings for each episode. They remained popular with movie audiences, especially children, into the 1940s.

For more information on serial, visit Britannica.com.

TechEncyclopedia:

serial

Top

One after the other.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your PC, iPhone or Android.

Roget's Thesaurus:

serial

Top

adjective

    Following one after another in an orderly pattern: consecutive, sequent, sequential, subsequent, successional, successive. See precede/follow, time.


adj

Definition: in continuing order
Antonyms: disordered

n. 1. an element or a group of elements within a series that is given a numerical or alphabetical designation for convenience in planning, scheduling, and control.

2. any number of aircraft under one commander, usually conveying one air-transportable unit or subunit to the same objective.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

(DOD, NATO) 1. An element or a group of elements within a series which is given a numerical or alphabetical designation for convenience in planning, scheduling, and control. 2. (DOD only) A serial can be a group of people, vehicles, equipment, or supplies and is used in airborne, air assault, amphibious operations, and convoys.

Devil's Dictionary:

serial

Top
A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce


n.

A literary work, usually a story that is not true, creeping through several issues of a newspaper or magazine. Frequently appended to each installment is a "synposis of preceding chapters" for those who have not read them, but a direr need is a synposis of succeeding chapters for those who do not intend to read them. A synposis of the entire work would be still better.

The late James F. Bowman was writing a serial tale for a weekly paper in collaboration with a genius whose name has not come down to us. They wrote, not jointly but alternately, Bowman supplying the installment for one week, his friend for the next, and so on, world without end, they hoped. Unfortunately they quarreled, and one Monday morning when Bowman read the paper to prepare himself for his task, he found his work cut out for him in a way to surprise and pain him. His collaborator had embarked every character of the narrative on a ship and sunk them all in the deepest part of the Atlantic.



Part of a series.

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'serial'

Top
Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to serial, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Serial.

Serial, anything in the form of a series, can refer to:

Contents

Media

  • Serial, a type of periodical publication
  • Serial (film), short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with feature films, particularly in the 1930s and 1940s
  • Serial (radio and television), series of radio and television programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion
  • Serial (literature), serialised fiction in print
  • Webserial, serialised written fiction on the Internet
  • Serialism, in music
  • Serial art, in which uniform elements or objects were assembled in accordance with strict modular principles
  • The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County, a novel by Cyra McFadden
  • Serial (1980 film), based on McFadden's novel, starring Martin Mull and Tuesday Weld

Technology

  • Serial cable, a type of computer cable
  • Serial communications, computer communication technologies that use a single stream of data
  • Serial number, a unique number identifying a specific example of a particular product
  • Serial port, a personal computer interface for transferring data streams between devices
  • Serial Peripheral Interface Bus (SPI), a simple data link standard designed by Motorola
  • Serialization, the process of converting a data structure into a linear form that can be stored or transmitted

Mathematics

Culture

  • Serial killer, people who, for psychological reasons, murder victims who are generally unknown to them beforehand in at least three different situations

See also


Translations:

Serial

Top

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - serie-, række-, ordnet i rækkefølge
n. - fortsat roman, føljeton, afsnit i fortsat film

idioms:

  • serial killer    seriemorder
  • serial mouse    seriel mus
  • serial number    serienummer
  • serial port    seriel indgang, seriel port, seriel udgang, serieport

Nederlands (Dutch)
vervolgserie, feuilleton, periodiek, in serie, serienummer

Français (French)
adj. - (Comput) séquentiel, (Mus) sériel
n. - périodique (une publication), (TV, Radio, Édit) feuilleton

idioms:

  • serial killer    meurtrier en série
  • serial mouse    (Comput) souris série
  • serial number    numéro de série, (US) numéro de matricule
  • serial port    (Comput) port série

Deutsch (German)
n. - Fortsetzungsgeschichte, Serie
adj. - periodisch, Serien...

idioms:

  • serial killer    Serienmörder
  • serial mouse    serielle Maus
  • serial number    Seriennummer
  • serial port    serielle Schnittstelle

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - σίριαλ

idioms:

  • serial killer    πολλαπλός δολοφόνος (χωρίς προφανές κίνητρο)
  • serial mouse    (Η/Υ) σειραϊκό ποντίκι
  • serial number    αύξων αριθμός
  • serial port    (Η/Υ) σειραϊκή θύρα επικοινωνίας

Italiano (Italian)
romanzo a puntate

idioms:

  • serial killer    pluriomicida
  • serial number    numero di serie

Português (Portuguese)
n. - periódico (m), folhetim (m), seriado (m)

idioms:

  • serial killer    assassino serial
  • serial number    número de série

Русский (Russian)
периодическое издание, роман в нескольких частях, фильм в двух или нескольких сериях, многосерийный телефильм, маршевый эшелон, серия выстрелов, серийный, порядковый, периодический, последовательный

idioms:

  • serial killer    серийный убийца
  • serial number    серийный номер

Español (Spanish)
adj. - de serie, en serie, formando serie, de orden (número), consecutivo, sucesivo, publicado por entregas
n. - folletín, novela por entregas, culebrón

idioms:

  • serial killer    asesino múltiple
  • serial mouse    (comp) ratón en serie
  • serial number    número de serie, número de fabricación
  • serial port    (comp) puerto en serie

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - följetong, periodisk publikation

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
连续的, 连载的, 一连串的, 连载小说, 电视连续剧, 连续影片, 一个部分

idioms:

  • serial killer    连环杀手, 一系列谋杀事件的凶手
  • serial mouse    串口鼠标器
  • serial number    编号, 序号
  • serial port    串行端口

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 連續的, 連載的, 一連串的
n. - 連載小說, 電視連續劇, 連續影片, 一個部分

idioms:

  • serial killer    連環殺手, 一系列謀殺事件的兇手
  • serial mouse    串口鼠標器
  • serial number    編號, 序號
  • serial port    序列埠

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 계속되는, 정기의, (컴퓨터) (자료의 전송, 연산이) 순차적인
n. - 연재물, 정기 간행물, (컴퓨터) 직렬

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 連続している, 通しの, 続き物の, 連載の, 連続的な
n. - 続き物, 定期刊行物

idioms:

  • serial killer    連続殺人犯
  • serial number    一連番号, シリアルナンバー

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ألمسلسل ألسينمائي أو ألتلفزيوني‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮סידורי, סודר, סדרתי, של סדרה, טורי, סדרה, ערוכ(ים) כסדרה‬
n. - ‮סדרת רדיו או טלביזיה, כתב-עת‬


 
 

 

Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
TechEncyclopedia. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.
All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
© 1981-2012 The Computer Language Company Inc.  All rights reserved.  Read more
Roget's Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms by Answers.com. © 1999-present by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Oxford Dictionary of the US Military. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
US Defense Department Military Dictionary. US Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Words, 2003.  Read more
Devil's Dictionary. Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, 1911  Read more
Saunders Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved.  Read more
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary. Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Serial Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

Follow us
Facebook Twitter
YouTube

Mentioned in

» More» More