succeed

English

Alternative forms

• succede (dated)

Etymology

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”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /səkˈsiːd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːd
• Hyphenation: suc‧ceed

Verb

succeed (third-person singular simple present succeeds, present participle succeeding, simple past and past participle succeeded)

1. (transitive) To follow something in sequence or time.

   Autumn succeeds summer.

2. (transitive) To replace or supplant someone in order vis-à-vis an office, position, or title.

   The king's eldest son succeeds his father on the throne.

   Synonym: take the place of

3. (intransitive) To prevail in obtaining an intended objective or accomplishment; to prosper as a result or conclusion of a particular effort.

   The persecution of any righteous practice has never succeeded in the face of history; in fact, it can expedite the collapse of the persecutory regime.

4. (intransitive) To come after or follow; to be subsequent or consequent.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 49

     Her arms were like legs of mutton, her breasts like giant cabbages; her face, broad and fleshy, gave you an impression of almost indecent nakedness, and vast chin succeeded to vast chin.

5. To support; to prosper; to promote.
   • 1697, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:

     Succeed my wish and second my design.

6. (intransitive) To come in the place of another person, thing, or event; to come next in the usual, natural, or prescribed course of things; to follow; hence, to come next in the possession of anything; -- often with to.
   1. To ascend the throne after the removal the death of the occupant.

      Princess Buttercup succeeded to the throne as queen after King Willoughby died.

7. To descend, as an estate or an heirloom, in the same family; to devolve.
8. To go under cover.
9. (obsolete, rare) To fall heir to; to inherit.

   So, if the issue of the elder son succeed before the younger, I am king.

10. (obsolete, rare) To ensue with an intended consequence or effect.
    • 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A. Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], OCLC 152706203:

      Destructive effects […] succeeded the curse.

Synonyms

• (follow in order): come after; see also Thesaurus:succeed
• (support; prosper; promote): do well, flourish; see also Thesaurus:prosper

Antonyms

• (follow in order): precede; see also Thesaurus:precede
• (obtain the object desired; accomplish what is attempted or intended): fail, fall on one's face
• (support; prosper; promote): fail

Derived terms

Terms derived from succeed

• nothing succeeds like success

• succedent

• succeedingly
• unsucceedable

Related terms

Terms etymologically related to succeed

• success

• succession

• successive

Translations

To follow in order; to come next after; hence, to take the place of

• Catalan: succeir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 繼 (zh), 继 (zh) (jì)

• Esperanto: postveni
• Finnish: seurata (fi)
• French: succéder (fr)
• Galician: suceder, seguir (gl)
• German: nachfolgen (de)
• Greek: διαδέχομαι (el) (diadéchomai), ακολουθώ (el) (akolouthó)

  Ancient: διαδέχομαι (diadékhomai)

• Hungarian: követ (hu)

• Italian: succedere (it)
• Japanese: 継ぐ (ja) (tsugu), 継承する (keishō suru)
• Latin: succedere
• Maori: taua, whakaekeeke
• Portuguese: seguir (pt)
• Romanian: succeda (ro), succede (ro)
• Russian: сле́довать (ru) (slédovatʹ) (за za + instrumental case)
• Slovene: naslediti, slediti (sl)
• Spanish: suceder (es)

To obtain the object desired; to accomplish what is attempted or intended; to have a prosperous issue or termination; to be successful

• Arabic: نَجَحَ‎ (najaḥa)

  Egyptian Arabic: نجح‎ (nagaḥ)

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: alınmaq (of an action)
• Catalan: reeixir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 成功 (sing⁴ gung¹)

  Mandarin: 成功 (zh) (chénggōng)

• Czech: uspět (cs)
• Esperanto: sukcesi (eo)
• Finnish: menestyä (fi), onnistua (fi)
• French: réussir (fr), avoir du succès
• Galician: conseguir (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: erfolgreich sein, Erfolg haben, gelingen (de), geraten (de)
• Greek: επιτυγχάνω (el) (epityncháno), καταφέρνω (el) (kataférno), κατορθώνω (el) (katorthóno)
• Hebrew: הִצְלִיחַ‎ (he) (hitzlíaḥ), עָשָׂה חַיִל‎ ('asá ḥáyil)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: sikerül (hu)
• Italian: riuscire (it)

• Japanese: 成功する (せいこうする, seikō-suru)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سەرکەوتن‎ (serkewtin)

• Latin: succēdō, vigeō
• Lü: ᦺᦡᧉᦡᦲ (ḋay²ḋii)
• Maori: tutuki
• Norman: rêussi
• Polish: dać radę (pl) pf, poradzić sobie (pl) pf, udać się (pl) pf (komu? czemu?)
• Portuguese: ter/obter sucesso/êxito, conseguir (pt)
• Romanian: reuși (ro)
• Russian: преуспе́ть (ru) (preuspétʹ), (imperfective) достига́ть це́ли (dostigátʹ céli), (perfective) дости́чь це́ли (dostíčʹ céli)
• Shan: ထိုင်ယိူင်းမၢႆ (thǔeng yóeng mǎay)
• Slovene: uspeti (sl)
• Spanish: conseguir (es)
• Swahili: fanikiwa (sw)
• Swedish: lyckas (sv)
• Thai: ประสบความสำเร็จ, ได้ดี (th)
• Vietnamese: thành công (vi)
• Westrobothnian: twäjtes

To fall heir to; to inherit

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 继承 (zh)

• Finnish: nousta valtaan, periä (fi)
• German: nachfolgen (de)
• Hungarian: örököl (hu)
• Japanese: 継ぐ (ja) (tsugu), 相続する (sōzoku suru)
• Polish: odziedziczyć (pl)

• Portuguese: suceder (pt)
• Slovene: naslediti
• Spanish: heredar (es)

To come after; to be subsequent or consequent to; to follow; to pursue

• Catalan: seguir (ca)
• Finnish: seurata (fi)
• Japanese: 継ぐ (ja) (tsugu), 継承する (keishō suru)
• Maori: taua
• Portuguese: seguir (pt)

• Romanian: succede (ro), succeda (ro)
• Slovene: slediti (sl)

To support; to prosper; to promote

• Japanese: 継ぐ (ja) (tsugu), 継承する (keishō suru)
• Latin: vigeō

• Slovene: uspeti (sl)
• Swahili: fanikiwa (sw)

To come in the place of another person, thing, or event; to come next in the usual, natural, or prescribed course of things

• Catalan: succeir (ca)
• Finnish: paikata (fi), seurata (fi)
• Japanese: 続く (ja) (tsuzuku), 継承する (keishō suru)
• Slovene: naslediti

• Spanish: suceder (es)

Specifically: To ascend the throne after the removal the death of the occupant

• Catalan: succeir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 繼位 (zh)

• Romanian: succeda (ro)

• Slovene: naslediti
• Spanish: suceder (es)

To descend, as an estate or an heirloom, in the same family; to devolve

To go under cover

• Latin: subeo

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: navolgen (3), slagen (8), lukken (8)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} succedere (it)

• Swedish: lyckas (8)

Anagrams

• succede