How can you succeed and not be a success? It happened to King Charles I of England. He succeeded his father King James 1, acceding to the throne in 1625. But he clashed fatally with England’s Parliament, who went to war against him and eventually arrested him, tried him, and in 1649, cut off his head.
The Latin root word ced means “to go, to yield.” The Latin word succedere means “to go after, to follow.” So a monarch’s successor is the person who becomes the next monarch. The word succeed only gained its other meaning in English, “to accomplish a desired outcome,” in the 15th century.
Many English words derive from ced. Just as succeed means to go after, or “to follow,” precede means “to come before.” A precedent is something that comes before. In legal terms, a prededent refers to a judicial decision that sets a standard to be applied to subsequent cases.
To accede, in the sense in which it was used above with reference to King Charles I, means to “to assume an office.” But accede can also mean “to agree to a demand or request.” Recall that ced not only means “to go” but also “to yield.” To make a concession is to yield to someone on a point of contention. King Charles did not want to concede when Parliament started trying to limit his power and it didn’t turn out well for him.
Author: Carol J. Cook
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