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# ordinal number

Every time I look into the eyes of an animal I see life; the force of life and the beauty of creation

## English

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### Noun

 Singular ordinal number Plural {{{1}}}
ordinal number ({{{1}}})
1. (Template loop detected: Template:context 1) A word that expresses the location of an item in an ordered sequence; an ordinal numeral.
"Third" is an ordinal number, while "three" is a cardinal number.
2. (arithmetic) A number used to denote position in a sequence.
In the expression a3, the "3" is an ordinal number.
3. (mathematics) A generalized kind of number to denote the size of a well-ordered set.

#### Translations

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#### Usage notes

On ordinal number usage:

• Ordinal numbers are general construed as adjectives followed by (countable) nouns in singular:
eleventh day
• Ordinal numbers are used for fractions as (countable) nouns, and for exponents usually followed by power:
two fifths, $\textstyle\frac{2}{5}$
two to the minus twenty-first power, $2^{-21}$
six to the third, $6^3$
• Ordinal numbers are generally considered to be ordered from high to low; so that first place is considered highest, and fifth is lower than second. Degree is an exception.
• Ordinal numbers corresponding to numbers higher that 20 use cardinal numbers for all the places preceding the final ordinal part:
twenty-first or 21st, occasionally XXI
one hundred fifteenth or 115th , occasionally CXV
thirty-three thousandth or 33,000th
• If an ordinal is followed by a plural noun, the two word phrase refers to a set of items described by the phrase in singular. For example second homes refers to the a set of homes which are considered a "second home."
Many households have third cars.

## Elsewhere on the web

### En-De

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