Succeeding

How to spell succeeding

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce succeeding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does succeeding mean?

1. verbAchieving a desired aim or favourable result.
2. adjectiveComing after in time or order; subsequent.
3. verbComing next to a position, office, or title after another person.

Succeeding in a sentence

• verb

  She is finally succeeding in growing her small business.

• adjective

  Profits rose in each succeeding year of the decade.

• verb

  The eldest child stands a clear chance of succeeding to the throne.

• verb

  The team kept succeeding where rivals had failed.

• adjective

  The succeeding chapters explain the method in more detail.

• verb

  She is widely tipped for succeeding the retiring chairman.

Where does succeeding come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin verb succedere, formed from sub-, here carrying the sense of 'up to' or 'after', and cedere, meaning 'to go' or 'to move'. The literal idea was of going up beneath something or coming along right after it, which is why the earliest English uses meant simply 'to follow' or 'to come next in order or office'. English took the verb in during the late 1300s through Old French succeder, and the modern winning sense, 'to have a favourable outcome', grew from the older notion of a result that follows on well from one's efforts. The same cedere root, glossed as 'to go', powers a whole family of relatives such as proceed, exceed, recede, and concede, and that family is precisely why the ending is spelled -ceed here rather than -cede. The doubled c (from the sub- assimilating to suc-) and the long ee both sit inside this one stretch of letters, making the spelling a small trap.

How the word is built

• suc- (from sub-, up to/after)
• ceed (from Latin cedere, to go or move)
• -ing (present participle/adjective suffix)