succession: Meaning and Definition of

suc•ces•sion

1. the coming of one person or thing after another in order, sequence, or in the course of events: many troubles in succession.
2. a number of persons or things following one another in order or sequence.
3. the right, act, or process, by which one person succeeds to the office, rank, estate, or the like, of another.
4. the order or line of those entitled to succeed one another.
5. the descent or transmission of a throne, dignity, estate, or the like.
6. Also calledthe progressive replacement of one community by another until a climax community is established.