Succeed

How to spell succeed

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce succeed

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does succeed mean?

1. verbTo achieve a desired aim or result, or to do well at something.
2. verbTo come next after someone and take over their position, title or duties.

Succeed in a sentence

• With months of careful preparation, the team expected to succeed at the launch.

• The deputy was chosen to succeed the retiring chairman.

• Few small businesses succeed without a clear plan for their finances.

• By tradition the eldest child would succeed to the family estate.

Where does succeed come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin succedere, which literally meant 'to go up' or 'to go after', built from sub- in the sense of 'up to' or 'next' and cedere 'to go, move, withdraw'. In Latin it carried both ideas at once: to come next in a sequence and, by extension, to turn out well, since a venture that 'went forward' had a good outcome. English took it through Old French in the 1300s, and for centuries it kept both strands, meaning both 'to follow in order' and 'to thrive'. The same cedere root sits inside a whole family of English words such as proceed, recede, concede and exceed, which is exactly why the spelling trap bites: succeed, proceed and exceed take the double-e -ceed, while most relatives take -cede. Remembering that succeed belongs to the small -ceed club helps fix the ending.

How the word is built

• suc- (form of sub-: up, after)
• -ceed (from Latin cedere: to go, move)