succession

Succession is a series of related things going one after the other or to a title or job passing on to another person.

(noun)

An example of succession is the series of girlfriends a man may have one after the other.
An example of succession is when a king steps down and his son becomes the new king.

See succession in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

the act of succeeding or coming after another in order or sequence or to an office, estate, throne, etc.
the right to succeed to an office, estate, etc.
a number of persons or things coming one after another in time or space; series; sequence: a succession of delays
1. a series of heirs or rightful successors of any kind
2. the order or line of such a series
Ecol. the slow, regular sequence of changes in the regional development of communities of plants and associated animals, culminating in a climax characteristic of a specific geographical environment

Origin: OFr < L successio < succedere: see succeed

Related Forms:

See succession in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

The act or process of following in order or sequence.
A group of people or things arranged or following in order; a sequence: “A succession of one-man stalls offered soft drinks” (Alec Waugh). See Synonyms at series.
a. The sequence in which one person after another succeeds to a title, throne, dignity, or estate.
b. The right of a person or line of persons to so succeed.
c. The person or line having such a right.
a. The act or process of succeeding to the rights or duties of another.
b. The act or process of becoming entitled as a legal beneficiary to the property of a deceased person.
Ecology The gradual and orderly process of ecosystem development brought about by changes in community composition and the production of a climax characteristic of a particular geographic region.