serial

serial [sir′ē əl]

adj.

[ModL serialis < L series, a row, order, SERIES]

1. of, arranged in, or forming a series [serial numbers]

2. appearing, published, issued, etc. in a series or succession of continuous parts at regular intervals

3. of a serial or serials [serial rights to a novel]

4. committing an act, usually a criminal act, repeatedly and, typically, compulsively [a serial murderer]

5. Comput.

a) of or for the transmission of a byte of data one bit at a time, over a single wire [a serial port]

b) having to do with the performing of multiple operations one after the other [serial processing]: cf. PARALLEL (adj. 4)

6. Music

a) designating or of a technique of composition in which various components of music, as pitch, rhythm, dynamics, etc., are arranged in an arbitrary order (a row or set) which serves as a basis for development

b) loosely TWELVE-TONE

n.

1.

a) a novel, story, film, etc. published or presented in serial form

b) any of the separate parts or episodes

2. a periodical publication

serially

adv.