success
/səkˈsɛs/noun
Achievement of a desired or favorable outcome
From Latin sub- (next to) + Latin cēdō (go).
Lineage
sub-
cēdō
The story
Success began as a piece of Roman motion: Latin succēdō meant “come after,” “take someone’s place,” or even “go up,” while successus was the resulting advance. English borrowed success in the 1530s, when it still meant any result—good, bad, or simply the outcome of an affair—rather like a neutral report from an accountant. By the 1580s, the phrase “good success” had shed its adjective, leaving success to carry the praise by itself. The family resemblance is visible in words such as proceed, recede, concede, and secede: all preserve the old image of something moving, yielding, or taking a position. William James captured the word’s new cultural force in a September 11, 1906 letter to H. G. Wells, calling success a “bitch-goddess”—a memorable reminder that a word once meaning merely “what follows” had become an object of worship.
Modern usage
A humorous or informal measure of achievement, especially when publicly recognized or displayed
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