English
series
Series comes from Latin seriēs ‘a row’, from Proto-Italic *serō ‘to join, bind, link’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to bind’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*séretireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serō‘to join’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEseriēs‘a row’
- Englishearliest quotation 1806series
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘to bind’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*séretireconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serō‘to join’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEserō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEseriēs‘a row’
- Englishearliest quotation 1806series
Earliest quotation: 1806, The Authentic Memoirs of Lord Nelson:: “A series of ill health, however, rendered it expedient…”
The story
Attested from the 1610s; borrowed from Latin seriēs, from serere (‘to join together, bind’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (‘to bind, put together, to line up’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind, put together, to line up’
service, sort, stream, hero, serve, conservative, reservoir, conservatism, sermon, sorcery, sorcerer, heresy, assertive, heretic, concierge, observant, sark, servitude, strudel, conservator, servile, serf, 33 more
through Proto-Italic *serō ‘to join, bind, link’
through Latin serō
season, desert, insert, exert, soiree, soirée, cerrado, sere, 9 more
through Latin seriēs ‘a series’
Today it means
noun A number of things that follow on one after the other or are connected one after the other.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ser- / series