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succès

Etymology and origin of the French word succès

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1540, Amadis
Borrowed from
Latin successus
Ultimate origin
Latin (cēdō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin succedo
English succeed
Latin successus
English success
French succès

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /syk.sɛ/[1]

Forms

succès m (invariable)[1] The Académie spelt it succez in 1694 and 1718, succès from 1740.[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin successus (“approach, advance; succession; success”), the action noun of succēdō (“to go up to; to follow; to turn out well”) (see succéder), from sub- and cēdō (“to go”).[2][3][4][5] The TLFi dates it to 1540 in the Amadis translation;[2][6][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg, Rey and the Grand Robert to 1546, in Rabelais.[2][6][3][4] Bloch and Wartburg think the sense “outcome” came not from the Latin noun but from the verb, to which it was then more closely tied.[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first senses were “succession, sequence” (in Rabelais's par succès, of a chameleon changing colour one after another) and the way something turns out, good or bad.[7][3][6][2]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century it could mean a result of either kind, with an adjective such as heureux or funeste, and Furetière (1690) says it is used in a good or a bad sense.[2] The sense “favourable result, success” appears in the army about 1646 and in Pascal in 1647, and gradually replaced the older one, which fell out of use in the 19th century.[2][3][6][8] Avec succès is recorded in 1631, succès d'estime in Collé (1762), succès fou in 1825.[2][3]

It was applied to success with the public (Boileau, 1669), in love (Prévost, 1731) and in society (1757), and in the 20th century to a successful play, film or book: un succès de librairie, a best-seller.[3][8] The negative insuccès, first found in Canada (1743–1744), may owe something to English unsuccess.[3]

Timeline

  • 1540 – “Outcome”, in the translation of Amadis.[2]
  • 1546 – “Succession”, in Rabelais.[6][4]
  • 1631 – Avec succès, in Guez de Balzac.[2]
  • 1646 – A military victory, in Maynard.[2]
  • 1647 – “Favourable result”, in Pascal.[8][3]
  • 1669 – Success with the public, in Boileau.[8]
  • 1740 – The Académie spells it succès.[2]
  • 1762 – Succès d'estime.[3]
  • 1825 – Succès fou.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A favourable result; Success: assurer le succès d'une entreprise, sans succès, in vain.[9][10]
  2. The fact of achieving what one aimed at; a success at an examination.[9][3]
  3. Popularity with the public: avoir du succès, un succès d'estime, a critical success that does not sell.[11][8]
  4. A thing that succeeds, a hit: un succès de librairie (a best-seller).[3][8]
  5. Success in love: son charme lui a valu de nombreux succès.[11]
  6. (dated) The outcome, good or bad, of an affair.[9][4]
  7. (gaming) An achievement.[1]

Word family

  • insuccès

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 380a
  6. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Succès.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/succ%C3%A8s. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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