səkˈseshən also sik- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin succession-, successio, from successus (past participle of succedere to follow, succeed) + -ion-, -io -ion
1.
a. : the order in which or the conditions under which one person after another succeeds to a property, dignity, title, or throne — compare apostolic succession
b. : the right of a person or line to succeed
c. : the line having such a right
2.
a. : the act or process of following in order of time or place : a repeated following up of one by another : sequence
b.
(1) : the change in legal relations by which one person comes into the enjoyment of or becomes responsible for one or more of the rights or liabilities of another person
a son's succession to the estate of his father
the succession of one king to another
: the act or process of one person's taking the place of another in the enjoyment of or liability for his rights or duties or both; also : the right or duty to take another's place by succession or the rights and duties succeeded to — see singular succession , universal succession
(2) : the act or process of a person's becoming beneficially entitled to a property or property interest of a deceased person whether by operation of law upon his dying intestate or by testamentary disposition
c. : the whole estate of a deceased including all assets and all liabilities
d. : the action or process of one state taking over or following upon another and becoming entitled to the former's rights and position in the international law
e. : the continuance of corporate personality
a corporation which has unlimited succession
f. : change in the composition of an ecosystem as the available competing organisms and especially the plants respond to and modify the environment especially when leading to some relatively stable community structure
the highlights of the succession were the weed, grass, and forest communities, developed in that order
g. : the process of change in an inhabited area through invasion by a different human population group or through a different utilization of real estate
the succession from residence to business in an urban district
3.
a. : a series of descendants, heirs, successors, or members of a dynasty following by right and in order from an initial member
for him and for his succession granted … a tribute — Shakespeare
had no antecedent and no fit succession — Henry Adams
b. obsolete
(1) : a group of people of somewhat homogeneous age succeeded to their ancestors : generation
(2) : succeeding generations : posterity
c. : a number of persons or things that follow each other in sequence : a continuous and uninterrupted series
preserved … by a succession of private owners — C.P.Fitzgerald
a succession of rooms, one after the other, extending over a great length — American Guide Series: Louisiana
d. : a group, type, or series that succeeds or displaces another ; specifically : an inclusive stratigraphic sequence involving any number of stages, series, or systems, or parts thereof