The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Succession \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.
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   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.
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            He was in the succession to an earldom. --Macaulay.
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   3. An order or series of descendants; lineage; race; descent.
      "A long succession must ensue." --Milton.
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   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.
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            You have the voice of the king himself for your
            succession in Denmark.                --Shak.
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            The animosity of these factions did not really arise
            from the dispute about the succession. --Macaulay.
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   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.
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   6. The person succeeding to rank or office; a successor or
      heir. [R.] --Milton.
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   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. [Eng.]

   Succession of crops. (Agric.) See Rotation of crops,
      under Rotation.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

succession
    n 1: a following of one thing after another in time; "the doctor
         saw a sequence of patients" [syn: sequence,
         chronological sequence, succession, successiveness,
         chronological succession]
    2: a group of people or things arranged or following in order;
       "a succession of stalls offering soft drinks"; "a succession
       of failures"
    3: the action of following in order; "he played the trumps in
       sequence" [syn: succession, sequence]
    4: (ecology) the gradual and orderly process of change in an
       ecosystem brought about by the progressive replacement of one
       community by another until a stable climax is established
       [syn: succession, ecological succession]
    5: acquisition of property by descent or by will [syn:
       succession, taking over]