English
serial
Serial comes from Latin seriēs ‘a series’, and goes back to serō ‘to bind’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserō‘to bind’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEseriēs‘a series’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEseriālis
- Englishearliest quotation 1823serial
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserō‘to bind’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEseriēs‘a series’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEseriālis
- Englishearliest quotation 1823serial
Earliest quotation: 1823, Royal Institution of Great Britain, The Quarterly Journal - Volume 14: “These singular ribs have a very different direction from…”
Formed from series + -al
Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind’
Proto-Indo-European *séreti
Proto-Italic *serō ‘to join’
Latin serō
Latin seriēs ‘a row’
English series
The story
Formed as series + -al, on model of Latin seriālis, from seriēs + -ālis. First use appears c. 1823.
Linked words
through Latin serō ‘to bind’
season, desert, insert, exert, soiree, soirée, cerrado, sere, 9 more
through Latin seriēs ‘a series’
Today it means
adj Having to do with or arranged in a series.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin serō / serial