series

Etymology

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”). Related to desert, insert, sermon, and sorcerer.

noun

1. A number of things that follow on one after the other or are connected one after the other.
   A series of seemingly inconsequential events led cumulatively to the fall of the company.
   When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. […]. The captive made no resistance and came not only quietly but in a series of eager little rushes like a timid dog on a choke chain. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess
   Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures. 2013-06-28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21
2. (broadcasting) A television or radio program which consists of several episodes that are broadcast in regular intervals
   “Friends” was one of the most successful television series in recent years.
3. (mathematics) The sequence of partial sums ∑ᵢ₌₁ⁿa_i of a given sequence aᵢ.
   The harmonic series has been much studied.
4. (cricket, baseball) A group of matches between two sides, with the aim being to win more matches than the opposition.
   The Blue Jays are playing the Yankees in a four-game series.
5. (zoology) An unranked taxon.
6. (botany) A subdivision of a genus, a taxonomic rank below that of section (and subsection) but above that of species.
7. (commerce) A parcel of rough diamonds of assorted qualities.
8. (phonology) A set of consonants that share a particular phonetic or phonological feature.