succumb
succumb
UK[səˈkʌm]US[səˈkʌm]
v
to fail to resist an overpowering force or desire; to yield.
v
to die from the effect of a disease or injury.
Etymology
the word 'succumb' entered english in the late 15th century from the latin verb 'succumbere', meaning 'to lie down, yield, or fall under'. this latin term is itself a compound of the prefix 'sub-' (meaning 'under') and the verb '-cumbere' (a form related to 'cubare', meaning 'to lie down'). the literal sense of 'lying down under' a force evolved metaphorically into the modern meanings of yielding to pressure or falling victim to an illness. its journey from a physical description of posture to an abstract concept of submission illustrates a common path of semantic evolution in borrowed vocabulary.
Analysis
the word is a simplex loanword from latin. it is not productively formed from separable english morphemes.
Examples
after a long and valiant struggle, the fortress finally succumbed to the siege.
many patients succumbed to the pandemic before a vaccine was developed.
despite his resolutions, he eventually succumbed to the temptation of dessert.