consecutive, a.
(kənˈsɛkjʊtɪv)
[a. F. consecutif, -ive, on L. type *consecūtīv-us, f. consecūt- ppl. stem: see consecute and -ive.]
1. Following continuously; following each its predecessor in uninterrupted succession.
| 1611 Cotgr., Consecutif, consecutiue, or consequent; next or immediately succeeding. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxi. §56 The actions of a Man consecutive to Volition. 1685 Boyle Salubr. Air 57 The Summers of differing, and yet perhaps immediately consecutive, years. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Blackmore Wks. 1816 X. 197 In the structure and order of the poem..the greater parts are properly consecutive. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. vi. 296 It rained blood for three consecutive days. 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 549 Occasioned..by the superposition of consecutive whorls. |
2. Consisting of elements following in order; characterized by consecution or logical sequence.
| 1755 Johnson Dict. Pref. ¶50 When the radical idea branches out into parallel ramifications, how can a consecutive series be formed of senses in their own nature collateral? 1838 Sir W. Hamilton Logic xxvi. (1866) II. 38 The ground of a consecutive reasoning. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 424 Cebes is the..more consecutive thinker. |
† 3. Following as a consequence or effect; consequent (to). Obs.
| 1647 Jer. Taylor Lib. Proph. xx. 261 Accused of accidentall and consequutive Blasphemy and Idolatry. c 1705 Berkeley Commonpl. Bk. Wks. IV. 477 The freedom of doing as they please, weh freedom is consecutive to the will. |
b. Path. Occurring after or during the decline of a disease, without forming part of it; as consecutive symptoms or phenomena.
| 1869 Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 490 It is probable that a certain number are consecutive to dysentery. |
4. Gram. Expressing consequence or result.
| 1871 Public Sch. Lat. Gram. §74 Subordinate Conjunctions are:—(1) Consecutive; (2) Final; (3) Causal, etc. Ibid. §168 Consecutive Clauses are so called because they express consequence or result: ita miser est ut fleat, he is so wretched that he weeps. Ibid. §170 The Consecutive use of the Relative and its Particles with a Subjunctive Verb. 1874 Roby Lat. Gram. §1678. |
5. Mus. Applied to the immediate succession of intervals of the same kind (esp. fifths or octaves) occurring between two voices or parts in harmony. (Also as n. in pl. = Consecutive fifths or octaves.)
| 1819 Rees Cycl., Consecutive Chords, The same applies to all consecutive intervals whatever. 1875 Ouseley Harmony i. 12 By the laws of strict counterpoint, every consecutive fifth or octave..is altogether forbidden. 1880 Parry in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 391 The forbidden consecutives are most objectionable in vocal music, or music for solo instruments in combination. |
6. Math. consecutive points: see quot.
| 1884 Williamson Diff. Calculus (ed. 5) 257 note, Two points which are infinitely close to each other on the same branch of a curve are said to be consecutive points on the curve. |
7. Magnetism. consecutive points or consecutive poles: successive points in the length of a magnetized bar, at which the direction of the magnetization is reversed, the effect being as if the whole consisted of a number of magnetized bars connected by their similar poles at these points. Also called consequent points.
| 1832 Nat. Philos. II. Magnetism i. §43. 11 (Usef. Knowl. Soc.) The points where the polarities thus change from the one kind to the other have been called consecutive points. 1870 R. M. Ferguson Electricity 9 This method [Double Touch]..communicates a powerful, but sometimes irregular magnetism, giving rise..to consecutive poles (Ger. Folgepuncte)—that is, to more poles than two in a magnet. 1890 S. R. Bottone Dynamo (ed. 6) 90 Coiling the wire so as to secure ‘consecutive’ poles at the pole pieces. |