▪ I. success, n.
(səkˈsɛs)
Also 6 sukces, 6–7 succes(se, suckses, (7 sucksess, 8 -cess).
[ad. L. successus, f. succēdĕre (success-) to succeed. Cf. F. succès, It., Pg. successo, Sp. suceso.]
† 1. a. That which happens in the sequel; the termination (favourable or otherwise) of affairs; the issue, upshot, result. Obs.
| 1537 Starkey Let. to Pole in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. App. lxxxi. 194 That you should al worldly respects set aside & al dangerous success which might succede of the same. 1548 W. Thomas Let. to Hen. VIII ibid. II. App. X. 77 Neither do I trust mine authors so much as not to mistrust contrary successes, both to their rules & their examples. 1555 Eden Decades iii. x. (Arb.) 182 Whose prosperous begynnynges ended with vnfortunate successe. 1561 Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc. 1543 One sort that saw the dangerous successe Of stubborne standing in rebellious warre. 1563 Homilies, Agst. Idolatry iii. Mm iij, Ye haue harde..out of hystories Ecclesiasticall, the begynnyng, proceadyng, and successe of Idolatry by Images. 1601 Shakes. All's well iii. vi. 86, I know not what the successe wil be my Lord, but the attempt I vow. 1642 J. M[arsh] Argt. conc. Militia 12 Who shall live to see an end of that rebellion and what the successe of it will be? 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 9 Insatiate to pursue Vain Warr with Heav'n, and by success untaught. 1668 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 249 The successe of Wednesday's debate..was a question to desire his Majesty to call before him some persons. 1733 Neal Hist. Purit. II. 329 The success of this war will fall within the compass of the next year. |
† b. An event. Obs.
| 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's Hist. China 324 The company which went with him were very fewe to make resistance against such successes as might happen. 1658 Earl of Monmouth tr. Paruta's Wars Cyprus 78 Troubled at the loss of Nicossia and at the other successes, which fell out..quite contrary to..hopes. 1753 L. M. Accompl. Wom. I. 12 To read..so many different successes, wherein we feel our Passions moved according to the Adventures treated of. |
† c. The result (of an experiment), the effect (of a medicine). Obs.
| 1606 L. Bryskett Civ. Life 6 M. Smith the Apothecary was come..to vnderstand what successe the physick he had prepared for me did take. 1684 R. Waller Nat. Exper. 55 This Experiment was often repeated, always with the same success. 1756 in Med. Observ. (1776) I. 390 So intent on trying..the success of the sublimate in the cure of the Lues Venerea. |
† d. in the success: eventually. Obs.
| a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. (1677) 144 Their Predictions..flattered both Cæsar and Pompey with long Lives..both which fell out in the success, to both extremely contrary. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 152/1 An Attempt which would never answer in the Success. |
2. a. The fortune (good or bad) befalling anyone in a particular situation or affair. Usually with qualifying adj. good success = sense 3; ill success: failure, misadventure, misfortune. arch.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 39 Although thei had knowlege what good successe Perkyn had enjoyed in al his former attemptes. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccles. Hist. (1619) 495 After that the assault of Adaarmanes tooke no prosperous successe at Antioch. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 104 Philautus hauing intellygence of Euphues his successe, and the falsehoode of Lucilla. 1596 Raleigh Discov. Guiana 17 The hard successe which all these & other Spaniards found in attempting the same. Ibid. 28 Berreo..looked for no other successe than his predecessors in this enterprize. 1619 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1906) 74, I am sorrye to heare of John Younges disaster etc., yett am in good hope of better sucksess. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 1 Perplex'd and troubl'd at his bad success. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 26 Nov. 1657, After a sermon and prayers for good successe. 1704 N. Blundell Diary (1895) 25, I went to wish good Suckcess to Mr. Molineux of Croxtath ere he went a Courting. 1764 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. in Lett. (1772) II. 208 The bad success of his admirals at sea. 1823 Southey Hist. Penins. War I. 470 With so little accuracy do the French relate the circumstances of their ill success. 1839 Kemble Resid. Georgia (1863) 126, I was recalled to a most ludicrous perception of my ill success. |
† b. In particularized use. Obs.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 25 The..good successes, which their foes ensew. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 7 The Roman Gods, Leade their successes, as we wish our owne. 1612 Drayton Poly-olb. x. 14 note, After diuers unfortunat successes in warre. 1661 Pepys Diary 25 Sept., Sir W. Pen told me that I need not fear any reflection upon my Lord for their ill successe at Argier... My Lord Crewe,..I see,..is afraid my Lord's reputacon will a little suffer in common talk by this late successe. 1764 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. in Lett. II. 225 The reduction of this..fortress served to interrupt the prosperous successes of the English company. |
3. a. (= the older good success.) The prosperous achievement of something attempted; the attainment of an object according to one's desire: now often with particular reference to the attainment of wealth or position.
| a 1586 Sidney Ps. xxx. vii, While I my race did runne, Full of successe, fond I did say, That I should never be undone. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. iii. iii. 3 Giue but successe to mine attempting spirit. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 49 The Rebels being swolne to the height of pride..by continual Successe in their actions. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 760 A Drench of Wine has with Success been us'd. 1713 Addison Cato i. ii, 'Tis not in mortals to Command success, But we'll do more, Sempronius; we'll Deserve it. 1765 Blackstone Comm. i. iii. 198 A title the most remote and unaccountable that was ever set up, and which nothing could have given success to. 1827 Scott Highl. Widow ii, His success in fishing and the chase was able to add something to her subsistence. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xiv, It was George who had interrupted the success of her first love-passage. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola xix, That argument of success which is always powerful with men of the world. 1885 O. W. Holmes Emerson xi. 260 ‘Success’ in its vulgar sense,—the gaining of money and position,—is not to be reached by following the rules of an instructor. 1895 Law Times XCIX. 476/2 It requires the talents of a Boileau, Molière, or La Fontaine to play the part of a flâneur with any success. |
| proverb. 1868 Helps Realmah v, Nothing succeeds like success. [Cf. F. Rien ne réussit comme le succès.] |
b. An instance of this; a successful undertaking or achievement. success of esteem, success of scandal, tr. succès d'estime, succès de scandale s.v. succès.
| 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. ccx, Swell'd with our late Successes on the Foe. 1740 Cibber Apol. (1756) I. 50 Before her time our ancestors had many successful contests with their sovereigns..: yet what did those successes amount to? 1857 Dufferin Lett. High Lat. vii. 133 To convert a questionable success into an undoubted triumph. 1880 Daily News 19 Oct. 4/7 The dustbin absorbs scores of..poems that win a ‘success of esteem’. 1891 Spectator 2 May 615/1 The mass comprehends nothing except a visible success. 1916 G. Saintsbury Peace of Augustans iii. 144 The extraordinary power of the close of Vathek has secured it..a success of esteem. 1926 C. E. Montague Rough Justice iii. vii. 99 Notorious novels, successes of scandal, that lived as hard and about as long as super-impudent ball-dresses. 1939 D. Cecil Young Melbourne vii. 191 Glenarvon had a success of scandal; three editions were called for within a few weeks. But it dealt the death blow to..Caroline's social position. 1958 W. Plomer At Home xii. 175 They [sc. publishers' readers] are liable to advise the rejection of typescripts that might have popular success and be moneymakers, or success of esteem followed perhaps by durability and influence. |
c. transf. One who or a thing which succeeds or is successful.
| 1882 L. C. Lillie Prudence 63 To be a success in this circle, is to contribute to the beauty..or the effect of the hour. 1884 Daily News 27 Feb., Should Mr. Peel prove as great a success in the Speaker's chair, as he proved in oratory before he entered it [etc.]. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate v, Mrs. Hartwell's dance was a great success. |
† 4. a. Succession or sequence in time or occurrence. in success of time: in course or process of time. Obs.
| 1546 Gardiner Declar. Joye 85 The sonne sheweth her selfe in the mornynge, in whome there is encrease by successe tyll the sonne come to the highest at noone. 1547 Baldwin Mor. Philos. (1564) 18 The successe of thinges to come. 1549–62 Sternhold & H. Ps. xix. 2 The wondrous workes of God appeare, By euery dayes successe. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 41 In successe of time, foure of the greatest Ilandes embrased the Christian faith. 1611 Munday (title) A briefe Chronicle of the Successe of Times from the Creation of the World to this Instant. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xv (1623) 780 This King, of whose life by order and successe of Storie wee are now to write. 1626 C. Potter tr. Sarpi's Hist. Quarrels 338 This difficultie found Padauin in the successe of his iourney [così andaua difficoltando il suo camino]. 1656 Heylin Surv. France 282, I shall draw down the successe of their affairs from the beginning of the Reformation. 1690 C. Nesse Hist. & Myst. O. & N.T. I. 103 An house..will contract new..filth in success of time. |
† b. An instance of this; a succession. Obs.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry ii. vii. (1660) 81 Causing a success of surging billowes. a 1676 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. (1677) 37 Otherwise we must of necessity make all successes in the World purely natural and necessary. |
† c. Subsequent history. Obs.
| 1555 Eden Decades iii. vii. (Arb.) 166 As generally to lerne thoriginall & successe of thynges: And particularlye to reherse the noble factes of their..auncestours. 1681 H. More Expos. Dan. App. i. 250 Can a man believe that the Original or success of that people was ἀχειροποίητόν τι? |
† 5. Succession as of heirs, rulers, etc. Obs.
| 1587 Golding De Mornay Ep. Ded. to K. Hen., After a long successe of these Herauldes, came the Sauiour. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. x. 45 Then all the sonnes of these fiue brethren raynd By dew successe. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. ii. 47 And so, successe of Mischiefe shall be borne, And Heire from Heire shall hold this Quarrell vp. 1611 ― Wint. T. i. ii. 394 Our Parents Noble Names, In whose successe we are gentle. |
6. a. attrib., as success ethic, success hunter, success rate, success value, etc.
| 1923 W. Stevens Let. 11 Feb. (1967) 236 Aside from this absurd hero-worship, or success-worship, the town is purely a business place. 1946 Nature 17 Aug. 242/2 A success-rate of syphilis prevention of more than 97 per cent was claimed to be unequalled by any other mode of treatment. 1949 Success-goal [see open-class s.v. open a. 22 a]. 1951 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride (1967) 35/2 They remain avid customers for the success manuals and beauty treatments which by themselves constitute a large line of merchandise. 1955 Koestler Trail of Dinosaur 93 The same is true of obsessional success-hunters in every field. 1957 R. K. Merton Social Theory (rev. ed.) v. 170 The distribution of success-values among economic and social strata. 1965 H. Hendin in A. Giddens Stud. in Social & Polit. Theory ix. 311 His legal ambitions were excessive and he found it impossible to compromise with his grandiose success fantasies. 1977 Time 13 June 44/2 They are an uncommonly interesting lot, whose lives and habits illuminate what achievement means today in the society that invented the success ethic. |
b. Comb., as success story colloq. (orig. U.S.), (a) an account of a success; (b) an instance of a successful venture, an achievement, etc.
| 1925 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Feb. 28/2 (heading) A great success story. 1938 Time 14 Nov. 84/2 Last year, when the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that physicians might send contraceptives by mail, her career became a ‘success story’. 1954 W. K. Hancock Country & Calling vii. 203 Departments would naturally prefer to get ‘a good press’, whereas we were bound by our instructions to write critical history, not ‘a success story’. 1973 Nature 9 Nov. 58/1 The study of X-ray sources is one of the great success stories of present-day astrophysics. 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVI. 755/2 A comparative success story is the inundation of the ancient city of Nagarjunakonda to make way for a great hydro-electric project. |
▪ II. † sucˈcess, v. Obs. rare.
[f. prec.]
intr. a. To be a successor. b. To happen.
| 1545 St. Papers Hen. VIII (1849) X. 576 By my last of the 13 of thinstant I signified to the same of the case successid to the Signor Ludovico de Larme. ? 1560 Bale Chron. Sir J. Oldcastle Pref. A viij b, His sonne Henry the sixt successed [ed. 1544 succeded] in hys rome. 1567 Turberv. Ovid's Ep. 131 b, A blissefull signe that all Shall not successe aright. |