progression
Americannoun
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progressions
plural
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the act of progressing; forward or onward movement.
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a passing successively from one member of a series to the next; succession; sequence.
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Mathematics. a succession of quantities in which there is a constant relation between each member and the one succeeding it.
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Music. the manner in which chords or melodic tones follow one another; a succession of chords or tones.
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Astrology. any of a variety of methods of comparing the natal chart to subsequent planetary positions in order to establish an optimum time to accomplish things or to establish the probable time an event occurred or will occur.
noun
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the act of progressing; advancement
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the act or an instance of moving from one thing or unit in a sequence to the next
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maths a sequence of numbers in which each term differs from the succeeding term by a constant relation See also arithmetic progression geometric progression harmonic progression
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music movement, esp of a logical kind, from one note to the next ( melodic progression ) or from one chord to the next ( harmonic progression )
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astrology one of several calculations, based on the movement of the planets, from which it is supposed that one can find the expected developments in a person's birth chart and the probable trends of circumstances for a year in his life
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of progression
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin prōgressiōn-, stem of prōgressiō “advancement, forward movement”; equivalent to progress + -ion
Explanation
A progression is a series that advances in a logical and predictable pattern. In mathematics, for example, the series 2, 4, 6, 8 is an arithmetic progression. If asked to give the next number, most people would reply 10. A movement forward, especially one that advances toward some achievement, is called a progression. When you get your learner's permit, it's a step in the natural progression from child to responsible adult — although you may see it as part of your progression toward freedom. The progression from permit to driver's license includes a few more steps, like highway driving and learning how to parallel park your dad's enormous car.
Vocabulary lists containing progression
By the Roots: Grad-, Gress-: to step
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Common Core Grades 7–8, List 5
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Common Core Grade 6, List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But as soon as he finishes a chord progression or polishes his lyrics, he has to actively fight the generational urge to share it with the world immediately.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
The company is developing a one-time gene therapy for Huntington’s disease that aims to slow the progression of the devastating neurodegenerative disorder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Another way he adapted the game was in the progression of weaponry available for the hero.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
The simplicity of their progression to the semi-final was a touch surreal.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
But at Truman, somewhere close to half the students take at least one theater class before graduating, and those most keenly interested in theater take the whole progression.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
He later told me that the work represented “a new door opening” within his system for musical structures that are independent from standard harmonic progressions, and that maintain “a smooth, frictionless groove.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
As far as next steps, Friedman said Ohtani will “get through some more bullpen progressions, and then meet again” with the club to decide how to handle his pitching rehab next month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2024
And then he wrote this song that kind of had some similar chord progressions in it.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2024
Park evokes all of this while maintaining an electrified focus on ordering the Captain's journey into pleasing progressions, like a jazz or funk solo on one of the many American soul songs he loves.
From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2024
Depending on your interests, you may also want to spend time creating pleasing chord progressions by choosing chords from the correct key that will complement a melody that you know.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
