Wat betekent “succes” in het Nederlands?

Succes is the Dutch loanword from Latin via French (success / succès). In Dutch it's been demoted from "success" the noun to "good luck" the standalone interjection. Dutch speakers say succes before an exam, before a job interview, before any challenging task. It functions identically to English "good luck" — a one-word send-off carrying goodwill.

The word also retains its noun meaning ("a success") in other contexts: het was een succes (it was a success). But the bare standalone succes! is always the encouragement. A Dutch teacher to a student about to take an exam says succes!; a Dutch friend to another about to give a speech says succes!; a Dutch parent to a kid heading into a sports tryout says succes!

The phrase often appears in pairings: veel succes (lots of luck), succes ermee (good luck with that), succes, je kan het (good luck, you can do it). The base succes alone is enough but the expansions add warmth.