line of succession
4
5.5
- noun
- /laɪn əv səkˈsɛʃən/
- Formal
:
línea de sucesión
- The birth of a royal baby has changed the line of succession to the throne.
- next in the line of succession
- first in the line of succession
- create a line of succession
George was now in Direct Line of succession to the throne, and his naval career was suddenly over.
- George was now in Direct Line of succession to the throne, and his naval career was suddenly over.
- And he brings up the case of George Bernard Shaw, who uses this metaphor of an Apostolic line of succession stretching from Echelis to himself.
- If you stay clear of the line of succession, you're lost.
Examples
-
If this is correct, Congress should consider changing the line of succession to include the highest-ranking legislative officials of the President's party.
Academic text (2014) -
- Catherine is incredibly fond of the King's daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, and indeed persuades Henry to restore the girls to the line of succession.
-
Had the line of succession been followed, I myself would be a bishop of the church.
Fiction book (1992) -
George was now in Direct Line of succession to the throne, and his naval career was suddenly over.
-
And he goes to great lengths in order to disinherit his sister from the line of succession.
-
A final policy reason for removing lawmakers from the line of succession involves the continuity of policy and administration at a time of crisis.
Academic text (2014) -
All human societies are anxious for a clear and settled line of succession: the intensity of this anxiety is written all over Shakespeare's history plays.
Academic text (1992) -
…like it or not, she's next in the line of succession.
-
Quite apart from the constitutionality of including legislators in the line of succession, several policy considerations weigh against their inclusion.
Academic text (2014) -
President Truman, who succeeded to the presidency following President Franklin Roosevelt's death in 1945, supported the change from a Cabinet line of succession because he believed that the successor to the presidency should be someone who had been elected.
Academic text (2014)
How Close
- Formal
14
5.9
- Formal
1
8.6
- Formal
4
5.5
63
1.0
- Specialized
15
5.1
645
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
line + of + succession
The meaning 'order in which people inherit a position' is directly derivable from combining 'line' (a sequence) with 'succession' (inheritance) and the linking preposition 'of'. This compositional pattern is common in English and across many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Line of succession comes from the image of people standing in a line, one after another, waiting to take a job or a throne; line shows the order and succession means 'following' someone. So, it now means the order of people who are 'next' to become a leader.