successor English · revision 10615

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=xno successor|origins=la successor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /səkˈses.ə/, US /səkˈses.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|xno|successor]], Old French successour, successor, heir (12th century),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from Latin [[m|la|successor|t=follower, successor]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) an agent noun from the past participle of succēdere, to follow (see [[succeed]]).^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One who succeeds another in an office or position: 1297 in the OED, about 1300 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of a thing that follows and replaces another, successor is from about 1386.^(OED 1989) ''Successorship'' is from 1627,^(OED 1989) and a ''successor state'', one formed from the break-up of another, is a 20th-century compound.^(OED 1989) In logic and mathematics, the successor of a number is the next one in order, n + 1.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – a successor in office.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1386 – a thing that follows.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1627 – successorship.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person who [[succeed|alt=succeeds]] another in an office, title or position.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A thing that follows and replaces another.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(mathematics, logic)'' The next element in a series, such as n + 1 after n.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[successoral]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[succeed]]

+ * [[success]]

+ * [[succession]]

+ * [[predecessor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}