'Succeed' is Latin for 'go close behind' — one metaphor branched into both 'succession' and 'success.'
To achieve a desired aim or result; to come after and take the place of someone or something.
From Latin 'succēdere' (to go under, to follow after, to take the place of, to prosper), composed of 'sub-' (under, after, close behind) and 'cēdere' (to go, to move, to yield). The PIE root of 'cēdere' is *ḱed- (to go, to yield). The original image is spatial and sequential: to succeed someone is to come up close behind them and step into their place. From this concrete root two modern senses diverged — the sequential (succession, a series following in order) and the evaluative (success, achieving
The two seemingly unrelated meanings of 'succeed' — to achieve a goal and to follow after someone — both trace to the same Latin metaphor. In Roman culture, someone who 'went up close behind' (succēdere) a departing official was the next in line — the successor. The person who 'went close after' a challenge was the one who came through it — hence, succeeded. The connection is that the successor is the one who arrives at the destination.
Words closest in meaning, ranked by similarity