\Suc*ces"sion\, n. [L. successio: cf. F. succession.
See {Succeed}.]
1. The act of succeeding, or following after; a following of
   things in order of time or place, or a series of things so
   following; sequence; as, a succession of good crops; a
   succession of disasters.
2. A series of persons or things according to some
   established rule of precedence; as, a succession of kings,
   or of bishops; a succession of events in chronology.
         He was in the succession to an earldom. --Macaulay.
3. An order or series of descendants; lineage; race; descent.
   ``A long succession must ensue.'' --Milton.
4. The power or right of succeeding to the station or title
   of a father or other predecessor; the right to enter upon
   the office, rank, position, etc., held ny another; also,
   the entrance into the office, station, or rank of a
   predecessor; specifically, the succeeding, or right of
   succeeding, to a throne.
         You have the voice of the king himself for your
         succession in Denmark.                --Shak.
         The animosity of these factions did not really arise
         from the dispute about the succession. --Macaulay.
5. The right to enter upon the possession of the property of
   an ancestor, or one near of kin, or one preceding in an
   established order.
6. The person succeeding to rank or office; a successor or
   heir. [R.] --Milton.
{Apostolical succession}. (Theol.) See under {Apostolical}.
{Succession duty}, a tax imposed on every succession to
   property, according to its value and the relation of the
   person who succeeds to the previous owner.