chronological
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
arranged in the order that things happened, starting with the oldest event.
arranged in the order of occurrence from the earliest to the most recent.
Simple“The history book lists the kings in chronological order.”
In context“The detective arranged the witness statements in chronological order to identify exactly when the suspect had left the building.”
UsageUsually precedes the noun 'order' or 'sequence'.
Teacher's tipThis is a high-frequency word in academic writing and history; students should learn it as part of the fixed phrase 'chronological order'.
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 C1 Advanced
relating to time or how we measure it.
pertaining to the measurement of time or the science of chronology.
Simple“Your chronological age is how many years you have lived.”
In context“The study compared the children's chronological age with their reading ability to see if they were ahead of their peers.”
UsageOften used in medical or psychological contexts to distinguish actual age from mental or biological age.
Teacher's tipIn general English, sense 1 is much more common. This sense is mostly found in formal reports or scientific papers.
Synonyms
“Here is a rough list, which is more chronological than in order of importance.”
“Researchers found that dementia risk increased when the brain appeared older than the person's actual chronological age.”
From chrono- + -logical or chronology + -ical.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.