succession

Pronunciation

• IPA: /səkˈseʃ.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin successiō (“a following after, a coming into another's place”), partly through Old French succession, inheritance,^[2][3][4] from success-, past participle stem of succēdere, to come after (see succeed).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act, right or process of succeeding to an office, property or rank: before 1325 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[2][3] The NODE notes that it also meant successors or heirs.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Following one another in time is from the late 14th century,^[3] about 1386 in the OED.^[6] A regular sequence, and in succession, one after another, are from about 1449,^[2][6] and a series of persons or things in order from 1579.^[2] In ecology, succession is the gradual replacement of one community of plants by another.^[7][8] Successive is from before 1425.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1325 – succession to an office.^[2]
• c. 1386 – following in time.^[6]
• before 1425 – successive.^[2]
• c. 1449 – in succession.^[2][6]
• 1579 – a series in order.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A number of people or things following one after another; a sequence.
2. The act or right of succeeding to an office, title or throne, or the order in which this happens.
3. The act of following in order.

Word family

• successional
• successionally
• nonsuccession
• apostolic succession
• succession duty

Related words

• successive
• succeed
• successor
• success

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins