Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SUC-CES'SION, n. [Fr. from L. successio.]

1. A following of things in order; consecution; series of things following one another, either in time or place. Thus we speak of a succession of events in chronology, a succession of kings or bishops, and a succession of words or sentences.
2. The act of succeeding or coming in the place of another; as, this happened after the succession of that prince to the throne. So we speak of the succession of heirs to the estates of their ancestors, or collateral succession.
3. Lineage; an order or series of descendants. A long succession must ensue. – Milton.
4. The power or right of corning to the inheritance of ancestors. He holds the property by the title of succession. What people is so void of common sense, / To vote succession from a native prince? – Dryden.
5. In music, the successive notes in melody, in distinction from the successive chords of harmony, called progression. Succession of crops, in agriculture, is more generally called rotation.