I. ˈsēkwən(t)s, -ˌkwen- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin sequentia, from Late Latin, succession, state or fact of following, from Latin sequent-, sequens (present participle of sequi to follow) + -ia -y
1. : a hymn or rhythm having no regular meter read or sung between the gradual and the Gospel on certain occasions as part of a Christian liturgical service (as in Roman Catholic and Anglican churches) — called also prose
2. : a continuous or connected series: as
a. : a group of similar or related elements
a sequence of market fluctuations
a photo sequence
bringing … a sequence of musicals to Sacramento — Fortnight
the city spreads over a sequence of low hills — American Guide Series: Texas
specifically : an extended series of poems united by a single theme
sonnet sequence
b. : three or more playing cards usually of the same suit in consecutive order of rank (as jack, ten, nine, eight, seven)
c. : a succession of repetitions of a musical phrase each in a new position
rising chromatic sequence
— compare rosalia
d. : a mathematical aggregate ordered in the same manner as the positive integers — compare series 2
e. : a planned program of courses
a four-year sequence in social studies — J.B.Conant
f. archaeology
(1) : a set of components occurring in successive strata, preferably in one site
a local sequence
(2) : a group of local sequences consolidated into one of larger scope
a cultural sequence
g.
(1) : a section of a motion picture consisting of a succession of related shots or scenes in which a single subject or a single phase of a story is developed
the … roller-coaster sequence in Cinerama — Lloyd Shearer
(2) : a self-sufficient combination of dance movements permitting of further development, or a movement series with repetition of a theme on an ever lowered or heightened plane of space or dynamic intensity
(3) : episode
the sequence from which the book takes its title — Times Literary Supplement
minute rehearsals of each sequence in the coronation ceremony — Blake Ehrlich
h.
(1) : an agreed or keyed succession in cryptography
(2) : keying sequence
(3) : an arrangement of the alphabet in cryptology
3.
a.
(1) : a chronological succession
birds have no prevision … of the sequence of the seasons — E.A.Armstrong
(2) : a succession of geologic events, processes, or formations in chronologic order ; especially : stratigraphic sequence
b.
(1) : a methodical arrangement or consecutive order
a … sequence whereby he gets the apartment three days a week, she gets it twice — Lewis Nichols
the sequence in which one word follows another — Stuart Chase
paints each little square in sequence — Harland Manchester
(2) : a one-dimensional ordering of elements or terms in logic
(3) : an arrangement of the tenses of successive verbs in a sentence designed to express a coherent interrelationship especially between main and subordinate verbs (as in indirect discourse, conditional sentences)
(4) : the order in which portions of a recording are placed on a series of phonograph records — compare automatic sequence
4.
a. : a natural result or logical inference : sequel
action in sequence to … sincere idealism — Times Literary Supplement
the order of successional stages … has been reconstructed by the methods of inference and sequence — Ecology
b. : a subsequent development
everybody was caught up in a succession of sequences — Time
c. : the order in which events are connected or related in time : simple succession ; especially : the connection of antecedent and consequent in a temporal series apart from any causal necessity
the reactions of chemical agents may be conceived as merely invariable sequences
5. : the quality or state of being sequent : continuity between parts : consecutiveness , progression
narrative sequence
formal sequence is useful in the architecture of public buildings because it helps to direct the visitor
sequence in learning depends upon continuity of growth in the learner — Dora Smith
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to arrange in a sequence
III. transitive verb
: to determine the sequence of chemical constituents (as amino-acid residues) in