successor

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /səkˈses.ə/, US /səkˈses.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman successor, Old French successour, successor, heir (12th century),^[2][3] from Latin successor (“follower, successor”),^[2][3] an agent noun from the past participle of succēdere, to follow (see succeed).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who succeeds another in an office or position: 1297 in the OED, about 1300 in Etymonline.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Of a thing that follows and replaces another, successor is from about 1386.^[4] Successorship is from 1627,^[4] and a successor state, one formed from the break-up of another, is a 20th-century compound.^[4] In logic and mathematics, the successor of a number is the next one in order, n + 1.^[5]

Timeline

• 1297 – a successor in office.^[4]
• c. 1386 – a thing that follows.^[4]
• 1627 – successorship.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who succeeds another in an office, title or position.
2. A thing that follows and replaces another.
3. (mathematics, logic) The next element in a series, such as n + 1 after n.

Word family

• successoral

Related words

• succeed
• success
• succession
• predecessor

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ 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
5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins