successor

[ suhk-ses-er ]

noun

1. a person or thing that succeeds or follows.
2. a person who succeeds another in an office, position, or the like.

successor

/ səkˈsɛsə /

noun

1. a person or thing that follows, esp a person who succeeds another in an office
2. logic the element related to a given element by a serial ordering, esp the natural number next larger to a given one. The successor of n is n + 1, usually written Sn or n′

Derived Forms

• sucˈcessoral, adjective

Other Words From

• suc·cessor·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of successor¹

1250–1300; < Latin, equivalent to succed-, variant stem of succēdere to succeed + -tor -tor, with dt > ss; replacing Middle English successour < Anglo-French < Latin, as above

Example Sentences

It was Trump, however, who had set the U.S. departure from Afghanistan in motion, setting a timetable that left his successor in office with a narrow range of options.

From Los Angeles Times

His successor Ranil Wickremesinghe managed to negotiate a bailout package worth $3bn with the International Monetary Fund - but many Sri Lankans continue to feel economic hardship.

From BBC

While some of President-elect Trump’s most vocal supporters both inside and outside the Senate had pushed Scott’s candidacy hard in the past week, the Senate stayed its course, selecting as McConnell’s successor the one who would stray the least from McConnell’s old-guard GOP.

From Slate

His successor will face the challenge that Africa’s best formula for peace and security lies in norm-based multilateral cooperation, but 2025 will be an inauspicious year for reviving that project.

From BBC

But if the park survives in some form after his death, perhaps through a successor with a similarly high tolerance for debt, he would like a small plaque with his name in the front — “a small piece of evidence that I lived here on this earth.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• replacement