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Offspring vs Successor - What's the difference?

offspring | successor |

As nouns the difference between offspring and successor

is that offspring is a person's daughter(s) and/or son(s); a person's children while successor is a person or thing that immediately follows another in holding an office or title.

offspring

English

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A person's daughter(s) and/or son(s); a person's children.
  • All a person's descendants, including further generations.
  • An animal or plant's progeny, an animal or plant's young.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katrina G. Claw
  • , title= Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.}}
  • (figuratively) Another produce, result of an entity's efforts.
  • (computing) A process launched by another process.
  • Usage notes

    * The form offsprings is also used for the plural, especially the computing sense.

    Synonyms

    * baby/babies, child/children, issue (plural only), get * (all descendants) descendants, lineage, progeny, get, binary clone

    Antonyms

    * genitor (rare), parent, progenitor, father (male), mother (female) * (descendants) ancestors, forbears/forebears, forefathers

    Derived terms

    * donor offspring * parent-offspring conflict

    successor

    Alternative forms

    * successour (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person or thing that immediately follows another in holding an office or title.
  • George W. Bush was successor to Bill Clinton as President of the US.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=May 5 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=As Di Matteo celebrated and captain John Terry raised the trophy for the fourth time, the Italian increased his claims to become the permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas by landing a trophy.}}
  • The next heir in order or succession.
  • A person who inherits a title or office.
  • (arithmetic, set theory) The integer, ordinal number or cardinal number immediately following another.
  • Synonyms

    * (l) (uncommon)

    Antonyms

    * predecessor