success
Pluralsuccesses (some meanings)
- 1The fact of having accomplished what one set out to do or intended to achieve.
Their second attempt to climb the peak ended in success.
The mission's success depended on careful planning and a little luck.
UsageSay success in an exam or a field, and an effort ends in success. The verb is succeed, the adjective successful.
Oppositefailure
- 2The gaining of wealth, fame, respect, or profit, by a person or a business.
His sudden success in the music world brought both wealth and wide admiration.
For many newcomers, success meant earning respect in an unfamiliar community.
- 3A person or thing that achieves the goals expected of it.
The play was an instant success, selling out every night of its run.
Critics called the young director a remarkable success after only two films.
UsageUsually with a or in the plural: was a success, an instant success, some surprising successes.
Less common meaning
- 4The outcome or result of something; what happens as a consequence.
Note
Milton uses it in 1644 for an outcome nobody yet knows: those setting out on no mean endeavor face it "with doubt of what will be the successe". The neutral meaning fits the Latin idea of what comes next, which also lies behind the ordinary sense. In older texts the word can name a good result or a bad one; in present-day writing it would be read as a triumph, so avoid it there.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Milton's quoted use dates to 1644, when Areopagitica was first published. en.wikipedia.org
- Milton uses the quoted wording for an uncertain outcome at the beginning of an endeavour. en.wikisource.org
- The neutral and ordinary senses share a Latin origin involving following or coming after. en.wiktionary.org
- Historically, success could mean an outcome without specifying whether it was good. en.wiktionary.org
- Older texts could explicitly use success for a bad result. en.wikisource.org
Practice
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Origin
A learned borrowing from Latin successus, from succēdō ("succeed"), itself from sub- ("next to") plus cēdō ("go, move"). Old English had its own word for success, spēd, which became Modern English "speed."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Success is a learned borrowing from Latin successus, derived from succēdō. en.wiktionary.org
- Succēdō combines sub- and cēdō, with the stated glosses. en.wiktionary.org
- Modern English speed descends from Old English spēd through Middle English. en.wiktionary.org