successor

The word “successor” means a person or thing that follows and takes the place of another. In plain terms, whoever or whatever comes next and takes over from the previous one.

“Successor” is pronounced suhk-SEH-suh (/səkˈsɛsɚ/ in IPA).

Here is “successor” used in a sentence: “The board is searching for a successor to the retiring CEO.”

Words with a similar meaning to “successor” include heir, succeeder and successour.

The opposite of “successor” — its antonyms — is predecessor.

“Successor” is a noun.

The word “successor” comes from Latin. From Anglo-Norman successour, from Latin successor.

“Successor” is a fairly common word in modern English.

A successor is the person or thing that follows and takes the place of another, while a predecessor is the one who held the position or existed before. In a company, the outgoing manager is the new manager's predecessor, and the new manager is the outgoing one's successor.

An heir inherits property, money, or a title, usually through family relationship or legal right. A successor simply follows and takes over a role or position, however they were chosen, so a CEO's successor may be appointed rather than related. An heir to a throne becomes the monarch's successor when they actually take over.

Both prepositions are used, but "successor to" is the more common and idiomatic pattern, especially with roles, titles, and products, as in "the successor to the throne" or "the successor to the popular original model." "Successor of" appears mainly when naming the person succeeded, as in "the successor of the retiring judge."

In mathematics, the successor of a whole number is the number that comes immediately after it, obtained by adding one. The successor of 4 is 5, and this successor idea is used to build up the natural numbers in formal arithmetic.