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In the literature, there are "second degree of XX" and "third degree of XX". I was trying to consider a mix of them, and was considering naming it as "2.5 (ordinal) degree of XX". I was wondering what the ordinal of 2.5 is. Thank you very much!

Ypbor
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  • "In the literature" - which literature? What context are you trying to use this in? – KillingTime Jan 24 '22 at 15:36
  • They are terms in economics. – Ypbor Jan 24 '22 at 15:38
  • There's only one number in the series so its ordinal is 1. – Mazura Jan 24 '22 at 16:22
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    There is no ordinal, in the literal sense, corresponding to 2.5, so there is no standard, established way of expressing it in English. Trying to express it would be a playful departure from standard usage; as you are the one choosing to make that departure, it is up to you to decide how to do it. – jsw29 Jan 24 '22 at 16:41
  • .Ordinal numbers are used for setting items in a list, serially arranged according to some criterion. So can you supply a number of items according to criteria that would render 2.5 an item in that list? Let's suppose the item is 'halves-above zero'. Then 2.5 is the fifth. Unless you can suggest some set of items that require a fractional ordinal, there is no use for such a fractional ordinal. – Tuffy Jan 24 '22 at 17:48
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    There is no ordinal for half, 1.5, etc. Wiktionary has "halfth" as non-standard, e.g. in the context "one and a halfth birthday". Obviously you can write "two and a halfth", but don't expect your spell-checker to like it. – Stuart F Jan 24 '22 at 17:53

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