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success

Etymology and origin of the English word success

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1537
Borrowed from
Latin successus
Ultimate origin
Latin (cēdere)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /səkˈses/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin successus (“an advance; a good result”),[2][3][4] the noun use of the past participle of succēdere (“to come after, follow; to prosper”),[2][3] the source of succeed,[4][3] from sub (“next to, after”) and cēdere (“to go, move”),[2] from Proto-Indo-European *ked- (“to go, yield”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Result, outcome”, favourable or not: 1537[5][3][6] or the 1530s.[2]

Semantic evolution

Good success is from the 1540s, and success alone for “the achievement of what is desired” by the 1580s,[2] before 1586 in the OED.[5][3] The original neutral sense became obsolete in the 18th century.[2] In the 16th and 17th centuries success also meant “succession, order of sequence”.[2][7] Success with particular reference to wealth or high position is first recorded in 1885, in Oliver Wendell Holmes,[3] and a person or thing that succeeds is a success from 1882.[2][5] Etymonline quotes William James on “the bitch-goddess success”.[2]

Timeline

  • 1537 – an outcome.[5][3]
  • 1540s – good success.[2]
  • before 1586 – a favourable outcome.[5][3]
  • 1666 – a successful undertaking.[5]
  • 1882 – a successful person or thing.[2][5]
  • 1885 – wealth and position.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The achievement of something desired or attempted.
  2. The gaining of fame, wealth or position.
  3. A person or thing that succeeds.
  4. (obsolete) A result or outcome.

Word family

  • successless
  • successlessly
  • successlessness
  • nonsuccess
  • unsuccess
  • successful
  • Lake Success
  • success story
  • succeed
  • succession
  • successor
  • cede
  • proceed
  • exceed

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Success.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/success. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·