1. A following of one thing after another in time
   "the doctor saw a succession of patients"; "The historian detailed the chronological succession of events leading to the revolution";
   - sequence, chronological sequence, successiveness, chronological succession
    
2. The action of following in order
   "he played the trumps in succession";
   - sequence
    
3. A group of people or things arranged or following in order
   "a succession of stalls offering soft drinks"; "a succession of failures"
    
4. (ecology) the gradual and orderly process of change in an ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one community by another until a stable climax is established
   "After the forest fire, ecological succession began with pioneer species colonizing the burned area";
   - ecological succession
    
5. Acquisition of property by descent or by will
   "The family estate was subject to succession after the patriarch's death"
    
6. The inheriting of a title, office or power, esp. a royal title
   "The king's death led to a succession crisis"

Derived forms: successions

Type of: acquisition, action, activity, natural action, natural process, order, ordering, series, temporal arrangement, temporal order

Encyclopedia: Succession