Succumb
/səˈkʌm/noun
To yield, fail, or give way under pressure, force, or temptation.
Did you know?It comes from Latin *succumbere*, a compound used for physical collapse first — from *sub-* “under” + *cumbere* “to lie down” — before it became the word for yielding to fate, illness, or desire.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kʷem- / *kem-
“to lie down, rest, or bend down”
Latin
Latin
sub- + cumbere
“to lie down under, sink down, or fall beneath”
Late Latin
Latin
succumbere
“to lie down beneath; to yield or submit”
Old French
Old French
succumber
“to yield, give way, or be overcome”
14th Century
English
succumben
“to give way, fail, or collapse under pressure”
Modern English
English
succumb
“to yield, fail, or die under force, illness, or temptation”