1537, "result, outcome," from L.
successus "an advance, succession, happy outcome," from
succedere "come after" (see
succeed). Meaning "accomplishment of desired end" (
good success) first recorded 1586.
Successor "one who comes after" is recorded from 1297.
"The moral flabbiness born of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That -- with the squalid interpretation put on the word success -- is our national disease." [William James to H.G. Wells, Sept. 11, 1906]
Success story is attested from 1925.
Successful first attested 1588 in Shakespeare. Among the Fr. phrases used in Eng. late 19c. were
succès d'estime "cordial reception given to a literary work out of respect rather than admiration" and
succès de scandale "success (especially of a work of art) dependent upon its scandalous character."
[suh
k-ses] 