progression

1 a series of things linked together a progression of events that ended in utter disaster for the arctic explorers Synonyms catena, catenation, concatenation, consecution, nexus, chain, sequence, string, trainRelated Words chain reaction; belt, circle, cycle, vicious circle (also vicious cycle); continuum, gamut, gauntlet (also gantlet), scale, spectrum; flow, river, stream; file, line, queue, range, row, succession

2 forward movement in time or place our progression was slow but steady Synonyms advancement, furtherance, going, headway, march, onrush, passage, process, procession, progress, advanceRelated Words current, drift, flow, flux, stream, way; advent, approach, arrival, coming, nearing; bound, jump, leap, step, stride; impetus, momentumNear Antonyms backwash, ebb, reflux; retraction, return, reversal, reverse; about-face, turnabout, turnaroundAntonyms recess, recession, regress, regression, retreat, retrogression

3 the act or process of going from the simple or basic to the complex or advanced that civilization's gradual progression from simple bartering to a complex economy and monetary system Synonyms elaboration, evolution, expansion, growth, progress, developmentRelated Words advancement, betterment, improvement, perfection, refinement; incubation, maturation, maturing, ripening; blossoming, flourishing, flowering; addition, augmentation, enhancement, supplementation; emergence, evolvement, metamorphosisNear Antonyms backslide, lapse, relapse; decadence, decay, decaying, declension, declination, decline, degeneracy, degeneration, degradation, descent, deterioration, devaluation, downfall, downgrade, ebbing, falling, weakeningAntonyms regress, regression, retrogression, reversion