succession

Syllabification: (suc·ces·sion)

Pronunciation: /səkˈseSHən/

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Definition of succession

noun

1a number of people or things sharing a specified characteristic and following one after the other:she had been secretary to a succession of board directors
Geology a group of strata representing a single chronological sequence.

2the action or process of inheriting a title, office, property, etc.:the new king was already elderly at the time of his succession
the right or sequence of inheriting a position, title, etc.:the succession to the Crown was disputed
Ecology the process by which a plant or animal community successively gives way to another until a stable climax is reached. Compare with sere².

Phrases

in quick (or rapid) succession: following one another at short intervals.
in succession: following one after the other without interruption:she won the race for the second year in succession
in succession to: inheriting or elected to the place of:he is not first in succession to the presidency
settle the succession: determine who shall succeed someone.

Derivatives

successional

Origin:

Middle English (denoting legal transmission of an estate or the throne to another, also in the sense 'successors, heirs'): from Old French, or from Latin successio(n-), from the verb succedere (see succeed). The term in ecology dates from the mid 19th century

Remember that succession and the related word successive are spelled with a double c and a double s.

succession in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of succession in the British & World English dictionary

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Other

succession

noun

Phrases

in quick (or rapid) succession

in succession

in succession to

settle the succession

Derivatives

successional

Origin:

succession in other Oxford dictionaries

Nearby words

More results for succession

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