English
sequential
Sequential comes from Latin sequentia ‘sequence, succession’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ‘to follow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-1‘to follow’next step skipped: Latin sequēns
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsequentia1‘sequence, succession’
- Englishearliest quotation 1988sequential1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English sequential
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Robert J. Feugate, Steven M. McIntyre: “Hitest keeps the complexity of its pattern generation under…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sekʷ-Wiktionary, English sequential‘to follow’next step skipped: Latin sequēns
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsequentiaWiktionary, English sequential‘sequence, succession’
- Englishearliest quotation 1988sequentialWiktionary, English sequential. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1988, Robert J. Feugate, Steven M. McIntyre: “Hitest keeps the complexity of its pattern generation under…”
Formed from sequentia + -al
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- ‘to follow’
say, see, second, saw, society, social, executive, suit, sight, associate, pursue, sue, execute, consecutive, saga, prosecution, subsequent, persecution, consequence, sect, intrinsic, consequently, executor, persecute, extrinsic, dissociation, ensue, sequestration, dissociate, consequent, seg, segue, sequester, sequitur, 35 more
Today it means
adj Succeeding or following in order.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “sequential”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- / sequential