Success
Recognition for achievement by effort or just by circumstance. Can be fleeting, often illusory, and always relative. (see also Failure)
How We Say It
sΙkΒ·ses
Where It Comes From
Latin successus β an advance, prosperous outcome. From succedere β to come up, follow after. Originally neutral β any result that follows, good or bad β before narrowing to favorable outcomes. 'Success' as moral identity is a modern development, especially in American culture.
How It's Been Used
Operationalized by metrics β income, status, achievement, fame β that vary by culture and era. American success literature from Benjamin Franklin and Horatio Alger through Napoleon Hill has codified mythologies of individual achievement. Sociology distinguishes between meritocratic and structural accounts of who succeeds and why. The success of one often depends on conditions invisible to the successful.