One root, three spellings: ced, ceed and cess all mean “go” (and sometimes “yield,” go along with). To precede is to go before, to proceed is to go forward and a recess is a going back, a break. Another root, gress (also grad), means “step”: progress is stepping forward, and a gradual change happens step by step.
Key idea
ced, ceed, cess = go, yield. gress, grad = step, go.
Many ced words describe an order of events: an antecedent goes before, a predecessor went before you in a job, a successor comes after. Others describe giving way: to concede is to yield a point, and to accede is to go along with a request.
The parts and their words
Words taken apart
| Word and meaning | Parts, and what they say |
|---|---|
| antecedent something that comes before | ante- before + ced go + -ent → “going before” |
| successor a person who follows another in a role | suc- after, next + cess go + -or one who → “one who goes next” |
| concede to admit that something is true, often reluctantly | con- completely + ced yield → “yield completely” |
| accede to agree to a request or demand | ac- to + ced go, yield → “go along to” |
| excessive more than is necessary | ex- out + cess go + -ive → “going out (beyond the limit)” |
| incessant never stopping | in- not + cess stop + -ant → “not stopping” |
| cessation a stop; an end | cess stop + -ation → “a stopping” |
| progress movement forward or toward a goal | pro- forward + gress step → “a stepping forward” |
| digress to wander away from the main subject | di- apart, aside + gress step → “step aside” |
| gradual happening slowly, by small steps | grad step + -ual → “step by step” |
Worked example: Use the parts
The incessant rain kept the team indoors all week. What does incessant mean?
- Take it apart: in- (not) + cess + -ant.
- Here cess comes from Latin cessare, “to stop” (a form of cedere, to go away, yield: the same root as cease).
- Literally: “not stopping.” The rain went on all week.
Answer: Never stopping.
Meet the words
Common mistake
Three spellings, one root: -cede (concede, precede), -ceed (only proceed, succeed and exceed) and -cess (excess, process). supersede is the odd one out: it is spelled with an s because it comes from a different root, sed (sit), as in sediment. To supersede is to sit above, to replace.