succeed

The story

1. Latin · derived fromsuccedere“to go under, go from under, come under, approach, follow, take the place of, receive by succession, prosper, be successful”
2. Old French · derived fromsucceder
3. English todaysucceed

From Old French succeder, from Latin succedere (“to go under, go from under, come under, approach, follow, take the place of, receive by succession, prosper, be successful”). Partly displaced English speed, of which the original sense “to succeed” only survives in a few fossilized expressions such as Godspeed.

Words from the same roots