See Also: Succession(medicine)
succession(dictionary)
Succession(money)
succession(dictionary)
SUCCESSION, com(law)
succession (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
RAPPORT A SUCCESSION(law)
intestate succession(encyclopedia)
faunal succession, law of(encyclopedia)
Spanish Succession, War of the(encyclopedia)

succession (iou)



succession noun. ME.
[Old & mod. French, or Latin successio(n-), from success-: see SUCCESS, -ION.]
I.
The legal transmission of an estate, throne, etc., from one person to another. ME.
Monmouth So long as the Earl of Warwick lived, he was not certaine of the Kingdoms succession.
b. That to which a person succeeds as heir; an inheritance. rare. LME-M18.
The process by which one person succeeds another in the occupation of an estate, throne, etc.; the fact of succeeding according to custom or law to the rights and liabilities of a predecessor; the conditions under which this is done. LME.
Swift The security of the protestant succession in the house of Hanover. W. Blackstone The power of the laws in regulating the succession to property. W. H. Dixon She stood in order of succession to the duchy.
b. The action of succeeding to the episcopate by receiving lawfully transmitted authority by ordination. M16.
c. The line or order of succession by inheritance. E18.
A person's right or privilege to succeed another in the occupation of an estate, throne, etc. LME.
Dryden What people is so void of common sense, To vote succession from a native prince. Sir W. Scott Endangering both his succession and his life.
II. collect. Successors, heirs, or descendants collectively; progeny, issue. ME-L17.
a. A generation of people; in pl., future generations. LME-E18.
b. Posterity. E17-E18.
a. A series of persons or things in sequence; a continued line of sovereigns, heirs, etc. L16.
B. W. Aldiss Lucy..the last of Joseph's long succession of girl-friends. R. Frame After a succession of..slow train journeys.
b. The followers of a school of thought collectively. Only in 17.
A set of persons or things following in the place of others. M17.
III. techn.
a. The action of a person or thing following or taking the place of another; the passing from one act or state to another; an instance of this. LME.
b. The action of following another in a course of conduct. rare (Shakes.). Only in E17.
Astronomy. The ordered sequence of signs of the zodiac. Now rare. L17.
Music. The order in which the notes of a melody proceed. Also = SEQUENCE noun 4b. M18.
Military. A gradation of an army according to the dates of commissions. M18.
Agriculture.
a. The rotation of crops. L18.
b. The continuous cultivation of a crop throughout a season by successive sowings or plantings. M19.
Geology.
a. The continued sequence in a definite order of fossil species, types, etc., esp. as representing continuous descent of forms modified by evolution. M19.
b. A group of strata whose order represents a single chronological sequence. M20.
Ecology. A sequence of ecological changes in an area whereby one group of plant or animal species successively gives way to another, culminating in a climax community. M19.
Phrases: apostolic succession: see APOSTOLIC adjective 1. by succession according to the customary or legal principle by which one person succeeds another in an inheritance, office, etc. in succession one after another in regular sequence. primary succession: see PRIMARY adjective. quick succession: see QUICK adjective & adverb. secondary succession: see SECONDARY adjective.
Comb.: succession house Horticulture any of a series of forcing-houses having regularly graded temperatures into which plants are moved in succession; succession powder Hist. a poison supposed to have been made of lead acetate; Succession State a State resulting from the overthrow or partition of a previous State.
successional adjective (a) pertaining to, characterized by, or involving the succession of an estate, throne, etc.; passing by succession; (b) following one after another, occurring in succession; (c) of or pertaining to horticultural or ecological succession: E17.
successionally adverb (rare) by succession M19.
successionist noun (rare) a person who maintains the validity or necessity of a succession; esp. an upholder of the doctrine of the apostolic succession: M19.
successionless adjective without succession; having no successors: E17.