Full Idea
The finite ordinals may be conceived as types of series; ..the ordinal number may be taken as 'n terms in a row'; this is distinct from the 'nth', and logically prior to it.
Gist of Idea
Ordinals are types of series of terms in a row, rather than the 'nth' instance
Source
Bertrand Russell (The Principles of Mathematics [1903], §290)
Book Reference
Russell,Bertrand: 'Principles of Mathematics' [Routledge 1992], p.312
A Reaction
Worth nothing, because the popular and traditional use of 'ordinal' (as in learning a foreign language) is to mean the nth instance of something, rather than a whole series.