I. ˈsirēəl, ˈsēr- adjective
Etymology: seri es + -al
1. : of, relating to, consisting of, or arranged in a series, rank, or row
serial pictures
serial observations
a serial act like walking — A.T.Weaver
2. : occurring in regular succession
serial concerts
3. : appearing in successive parts or numbers
a serial story
a serial play
wrote her a serial account of his adventures — J.W.Krutch
4. : belonging to a series ; specifically : belonging to a series maturing in installments periodically rather than on a single maturity date
serial bonds
serial equipment trust certificates
5. : causing or producing a series
serial production of a new-model boat
denies that he is the pursued serial murderer — Siegfried Kracauer
6. : stichic
7. : of or relating to music based on a series of tones in a fixed order without regard to traditional tonality ; especially : twelve-tone
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : a novel or other literary or pictorial work published in sections in successive issues of a publication
b. : a section of such a serial appearing in a single issue of a publication
a cartoon serial … in a boys' magazine — Malcolm Lowry
2. : a publication (as a newspaper, journal, yearbook, or bulletin) issued as one of a consecutively numbered and indefinitely continued series
3.
a. : a motion picture or radio or television play presented in a number of successive installments or continued indefinitely
soap-opera serials
b. : a single installment of such a serial
sit through six complete showings of the western and the serial — William Humphrey
— compare episode 1d
4. : a subdivision (as of a military force) for movement by marching, by water (as in amphibious operations), or by air
could see shells exploding along the rear of the serial — Combat Forces Journal
battalion … moving as an independent serial — P.W.Thompson
III. adjective
1. : relating to or being a connection in a computer system in which the bits of a byte are transmitted sequentially over a single wire — compare parallel 2 herein
2.
a. : performing a series of similar acts over a period of time
a serial killer
b. : occurring in or involving such a series
a serial murder
serial monogamy