Dictionary term
Ordinal Date
Direct answer
Ordinal Date: An Ordinal Date identifies a day by its calendar year and sequential day number from 001 through 365 or 366.
An Ordinal Date is a year plus its numbered day of year.
An Ordinal Date is a year plus its numbered day of year.
A cycle or timeline schematic for comparing the named timekeeping concept.Quick reference
- Use when
- Use Ordinal Date for observations, mission logs, manufacturing codes, and datasets organized by day of year.
- Do not use it for
- Do not read an ordinal day without checking whether the year is common or leap.
- Reference category
- Calendars & Timekeeping
- Related terms
- ISO Week Date, Week Number, Calendar, Julian Date
The Chapter · Mystery School
Learn to read the sky for yourself
A mystery school of astrology with a worldwide chapter: letters on the chart and the soul, readings under one sky, and a rule of honesty about what the stars can and cannot say.
- The founding letter, with what the school studies and how it meets
- First word each season, when the doors open
- A seat at the gatherings, wherever in the world you are
Reading about Ordinal Date? The chapter is where readers like you meet.
Founding circle · forming now
The list costs nothing. Word of the school and its gatherings, nothing else. Unsubscribe at any time.
The story behind Ordinal Date
Day-of-year notation became common in technical systems that needed compact, sortable dates independent of month names.
Ordinal Date in spiritual tradition
Spiritually, ordinal dating highlights continuity one counted day at a time.
Ordinal Date: fact and faith, kept distinct
This is a factual calendar, astronomy, Earth-science, cultural-history, or observational reference. It can support wonder and practical planning without becoming a claim of fate, spiritual causation, or private revelation.
Ordinal Date in numerology
Ordinal Date is not a numerology claim. Any numbers attached to it should retain their ordinary scientific, calendrical, navigational, or historical meaning unless a separate symbolic interpretation is clearly labeled.
Why Ordinal Date matters
Ordinal dates simplify elapsed-day calculations and avoid month-length differences in scientific and operational records.
Ordinal Date at work: an example
The sixtieth day is March 1 in a common year but February 29 in a leap year.
Where interpretation stops
Ordinal Date is presented as sourced astronomy, calendrical, Earth-science, cultural, or instrument-history reference. Definitions should distinguish measured phenomena from civil convention and historical interpretation, preserve location and time dependencies, and avoid turning factual sky data into a deterministic personal claim.
Sources and editorial method
Research references used for this entry include:
- ISO: ISO 8601 Date and Time Format - Standards-body overview of unambiguous international date and time representations.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Calendars & Timekeeping
- Also appears in
- Calendars & Timekeeping
- Aliases
- None listed
- Last updated
- 2026-07-16
Convert the day of year
Ordinal Date in a book is one thing; Ordinal Date in your own birth chart is your life. The Oracle casts your real chart and tells you what it means for your love, your work, and your year ahead, in conversation, free.
Speak with the OracleRelated terms
More in Calendars & Timekeeping
- Sidereal Year
- Unix Time
- Astronomical Day
- Callippic Cycle
- Draconic Year
- Golden Number
- International Atomic Time
- Local Mean Solar Time
Common questions
What is Ordinal Date?
An Ordinal Date identifies a day by its calendar year and sequential day number from 001 through 365 or 366.
How is Ordinal Date used in an almanac?
Use Ordinal Date for observations, mission logs, manufacturing codes, and datasets organized by day of year.
What should I avoid when interpreting Ordinal Date?
Do not read an ordinal day without checking whether the year is common or leap.
