the.com/ordinal
Not how many, but which one in line — first beats one every time.
means An ordinal number tells you the position something holds in a sequence — first, second, third — rather than how many things there are.
from From Latin 'ordinalis,' built on 'ordo' meaning row, rank, or order (the same root that gives us 'order' and 'ordain'). The Romans used it for anything about sequence or arrangement, and English borrowed it in the 1400s specifically for counting position in a line rather than quantity in a pile.
- vs cardinal
- cardinal counts, ordinal ranks
- suffix clue
- th, st, nd, rd give it away
- math use
- extends counting past infinity itself
- exception club
- first, second, third break the pattern