sequence
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.the order in which things happen or should happen.
n.the particular order in which related events, movements, or things follow each other.
Simple“The police are trying to find out the exact sequence of events that led to the accident.”
In context“The historian meticulously reconstructed the sequence of diplomatic failures that preceded the declaration of war, highlighting the role of miscommunication.”
Synonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a list of numbers or objects that follow a specific rule or order.
n.an ordered list of objects, typically indexed with natural numbers, following a specific mathematical rule.
Simple“The teacher asked the students to find the next number in the sequence.”
In context“The Fibonacci sequence is a famous example of a numerical pattern where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones.”
Synonyms - 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a part of a movie that shows one particular event or scene.
n.a series of shots that depict a single action or style in a film or television production.
Simple“The opening sequence of the movie was filmed in the mountains.”
In context“The director spent three weeks editing the dream sequence to ensure the transitions felt fluid and surreal for the audience.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
n.a short piece of music that is repeated at a higher or lower pitch.
n.a series of musical phrases where a theme is repeated at different pitch levels.
Simple“The composer used a rising sequence to make the music feel more exciting.”
In context“The baroque concerto features a complex harmonic sequence that builds tension before resolving into the final major chord.”
Synonyms - 05 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to put things into a specific order.
v.to arrange elements or data into a particular order or succession.
Simple“The software allows you to sequence your photos by the date they were taken.”
In context“The algorithm is designed to sequence the incoming data packets to ensure they are processed in the correct chronological order.”
- 06 C1 Advanced
v.to find the order of chemicals in a piece of DNA.
v.to determine the order of monomers in a biological polymer, such as bases in a nucleic acid.
Simple“Scientists have finally finished sequencing the entire human genome.”
In context“By sequencing the viral DNA, researchers were able to identify the specific mutation responsible for the increased transmission rate.”
Usage complete sequence · complex sequence · given sequence
“Harris Dickinson, as John Lennon, is leading the walk, with Barry Keoghan as Ringo Starr, Paul Mescal as Paul McCartney and Joseph Quinn as George Harrison following in sequence.”
“The technology works similarly to large language models, like ChatGPT, which predict sequences of text.”
From Middle English sequence, from Old French sequence (“a sequence of cards, answering verses”), from Late Latin sequentia (“a following”), from Latin sequēns (“following”), from sequī (“to follow”); see sequent.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.