succession

suc·ces·sion
S1U1C3C3E1S1S1I1O1N1
UK/səkˈsɛʃ.ən/

noun

An act of following in sequence.

Similar
posterioritysequencechronological sequencesuccessivenesschronological successionecological successiontaking over
CommonScrabble 14

Meanings

nounsuccession (countable and uncountable, plural successions)

plural successions

  1. An act, process, or instance of succeeding:
    1. countableuncountableAn act of following in sequence.
      1 more example

      In 1958, it was reported that for "the fourth year in succession, staff of four South London stations have combined to decorate the booking hall at Peckham Rye station". They installed a nativity scene, models of Father Christmas, and a sleigh driven by huskies, and Christmas trees were placed around the station.

      2023 December 27, David Turner, “Silent lines...”, in RAIL, number 999, page 29

      Synonyms: posteriority

    2. countableuncountableA sequence of things in order.

      England gave away six penalties in the first 15 minutes and were lucky to still have 15 men on the pitch, but Kvirikashvili missed two very makeable penalties in quick succession as Georgia were unable to take advantage of significant territorial advantage.

      2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport
      1 more example

      Villa spent most of the second period probing from wide areas and had a succession of corners but despite their profligacy they will be glad to overturn the 6-0 hammering they suffered at St James' Park in August following former boss Martin O'Neill's departure

      2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1 - 0 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport

      Synonyms: sequence

    3. countableuncountableA passing of royal powers.
    4. countableuncountableA group of rocks or strata that succeed one another in chronological order.
    5. countableuncountableA race or series of descendants.
    6. countableuncountableagricultureRotation, as of crops.
    7. countableuncountableA right to take possession.
    8. countablehistoricaluncountableIn Roman and Scots law, the taking of property by one person in place of another.
    9. countableobsoleterareuncountableThe person who succeeds to rank or office; a successor or heir.

      long descent of Kings , whose names only for many successions without other memory stand thus register'd

      1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn act of following in sequence.

nounA sequence of things in order.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nouna following of one thing after another in time

Similar
sequencechronological sequencesuccessivenesschronological succession
Broader
temporal arrangementtemporal order

nounthe action of following in order

Similar

noun(ecology) the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established

Similar
ecological succession
Broader
natural processnatural actionaction

nounacquisition of property by descent or by will

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinsuccessiō
  2. Old Frenchsuccession
  3. Middle English[Term?]
  4. Englishsuccession

Inherited from Middle English [Term?], from Old French succession, from Latin successiō (noun).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek διαδοχή, διαδοχή
  • διαδοχή (diadokhḗ)following in sequence
  • διαδοχή (diadokhḗ)passing of royal power
Bulgarian последователност, редуване
  • последователност (posledovatelnost)following in sequence
  • редуване (reduvane)following in sequence
  • последователност (posledovatelnost)sequence arranged in order
Chinese Mandarin 繼承 /继承
  • 繼承 /继承 (jìchéng)passing of royal power
Czech sled, posloupnost
  • sledsequence arranged in order
  • posloupnostsequence arranged in order
  • následnictvípassing of royal power
Danish tronfølge, arvefølge
  • tronfølgepassing of royal power
  • arvefølgepassing of royal power
Dutch opeenvolging, opeenvolging
  • opeenvolgingfollowing in sequence
  • opeenvolgingsequence arranged in order
  • troonswisselingpassing of royal power
Esperanto sinsekvo, posteuleco
  • sinsekvosequence arranged in order
  • posteulecopassing of royal power
Finnish seuraaminen, sarja
  • seuraaminenfollowing in sequence
  • sarjasequence arranged in order
  • kruununperimyspassing of royal power
French succession, succession
  • successionfollowing in sequence
  • successionpassing of royal power
German Abfolge, Thronfolge
  • Abfolgesequence arranged in order
  • Thronfolgepassing of royal power
Greek διαδοχή, διαδοχή
  • διαδοχή (diadochí)following in sequence
  • διαδοχή (diadochí)sequence arranged in order
  • διαδοχή (diadochí)passing of royal power
Hungarian sorozat, sorra/egymásra következés
  • sorozatfollowing in sequence
  • sorra/egymásra következésfollowing in sequence
  • sorsequence arranged in order
  • sorrendsequence arranged in order
  • sorrendiségsequence arranged in order
  • egymásutánsequence arranged in order
  • örökösödéspassing of royal power
  • utódláspassing of royal power
  • trónutódláspassing of royal power
  • örökléspassing of royal power
  • trónörökléspassing of royal power
Icelandic ríkiserfðir, erfðaröð
  • ríkiserfðirpassing of royal power
  • erfðaröðpassing of royal power
Indonesian suksesi, suksesi
  • suksesifollowing in sequence
  • suksesipassing of royal power
Italian successione, successione
  • successionefollowing in sequence
  • successionepassing of royal power
Japanese 相続
  • 相続 (sōzoku)passing of royal power
Latin seriēs, successiō
  • seriēssequence arranged in order
  • successiōpassing of royal power
Malay pewarisan
  • pewarisanpassing of royal power
Māori tauatanga, raupapatanga
  • tauatangafollowing in sequence
  • raupapatangafollowing in sequence
  • raupapatangasequence arranged in order
Norwegian Bokmål suksesjon
  • suksesjonfollowing in sequence
Polish następstwo, kolejność
  • następstwofollowing in sequence
  • kolejnośćfollowing in sequence
  • ciągsequence arranged in order
  • szeregsequence arranged in order
  • seriasequence arranged in order
  • sukcesjapassing of royal power
  • dziedziczeniepassing of royal power
Portuguese sucessão, sucessão
  • sucessãofollowing in sequence
  • sucessãopassing of royal power
Romanian succesiune, șir
  • succesiunefollowing in sequence
  • șirsequence arranged in order
  • succesiunesequence arranged in order
Russian следование, последовательность
  • следование (sledovanije)following in sequence
  • последовательность (posledovatelʹnostʹ)sequence arranged in order
  • престолонаследие (prestolonasledije)passing of royal power
Spanish sucesión, sucesión
  • sucesiónfollowing in sequence
  • sucesiónpassing of royal power
Swedish tronföljd
  • tronföljdpassing of royal power
Tagalog pagkakasunod-sunod, kasunuran
  • pagkakasunod-sunodfollowing in sequence
  • kasunuranfollowing in sequence
  • halilinanpassing of royal power
Welsh olyniaeth, olyniad
  • olyniaethfollowing in sequence
  • olyniadfollowing in sequence
  • olyniaethpassing of royal power
  • olyniadpassing of royal power
Cite this entry
APA

succession. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/succession

MLA

“succession.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/succession. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “succession,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/succession.

Source: succession on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.