'successional' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'successio' (from 'succedere'), where 'succedere' meant 'to follow' or literally 'to go after' ('sub-' + 'cedere').

'successio' passed into Old French and Middle English as 'succession', and English formed the adjective 'successional' by adding the suffix '-al' to 'succession'.

Initially it referred to 'a coming after' or 'the act of following'; over time it came to be used adjectivally to mean 'relating to succession' or 'occurring in a sequence', with a notable technical use in ecology for stages that follow one another.