occupation

American  

[ok-yuh-pey-shuhn] / ˌɒk yəˈpeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. a person's usual or principal work or business, especially as a means of earning a living; vocation.

   Her occupation was dentistry.

   Synonyms:

   métier, craft, pursuit, employment

2. any activity in which a person is engaged.

3. possession, settlement, or use of land or property.

   Synonyms:

   occupancy

4. the act of occupying, possessing, or settling.

5. the state of being occupied, taken over, or settled.

6. the state of being busy.

   His constant occupation with his writing has cut severely into his social life.

7. the seizure and control of an area by military forces, especially foreign territory.

8. the term of control of a territory by foreign military forces.

   Danish resistance during the German occupation.

9. tenure or the holding of an office or official function.

   during his occupation of the vice presidency.

10. the act of going into and taking control of a public or private space, as a park or building, especially as an act of protest.

    The students' week-long occupation of the dean's office brought about a change in the university's curfew policy.

11. the state or condition of living or working in a given place.

    The landlord will not allow occupation of any of his apartments by families with children or pets.

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occupation British  

/ ˌɒkjʊˈpeɪʃən /

noun

1. a person's regular work or profession; job or principal activity

2. any activity on which time is spent by a person

3. the act of occupying or the state of being occupied

4. the control of a country by a foreign military power

5. the period of time that a nation, place, or position is occupied

6. (modifier) for the use of the occupier of a particular property

   occupation road

   occupation bridge

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Synonym Usage

Occupation, business, profession, trade refer to the activity to which one regularly devotes oneself, especially one's regular work, or means of getting a living. Occupation is the general word: a pleasant or congenial occupation. Business especially suggests a commercial or mercantile occupation: the printing business. Profession implies an occupation requiring special knowledge and training in some field of science or learning: the profession of teaching. Trade suggests an occupation involving manual training and skill: one of the building trades.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonoccupation
  noun
• self-occupation
  noun
• occupative
  adjective
• reoccupation
  noun
• occupationless
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of occupation

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English occupacioun, from Middle French occupation, from Latin occupātiōn-, stem of occupātiō “employment, seizure,” from occupāt(us) “seized” (past participle of occupāre “to seize, take hold”; see occupy) + -iō -ion

Explanation

An occupation is a physical takeover. Your student group's occupation of the college building made news when your demands became known. In exchange for leaving, you wanted the college to grant a tuition freeze. The occupation of a building can refer to the rightful habitation by its residents or the takeover of a building, as in a protest. The occupation of a country, however, always refers to the takeover and control of one country by another, as in the German occupation of France during WWII. The noun occupation can also mean your line of work or anything that occupies your time. Some people have unusual occupations, such as alligator wrangler or golf ball retriever.

Example Sentences

A small-scale map might suggest that it’s vulnerable to occupation, as it borders the Persian Gulf, just across from U.S. bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

From Slate • Jun. 11, 2026

They also emphasized that while the study documents approximately 700 years of use at Bergstrom, it cannot determine how long individual occupation periods lasted or how frequently the site was used during that time.

From Science Daily • Jun. 11, 2026

Jordan’s control of the area was overwhelmingly considered an illegal occupation by the international community.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026

The huge operation, which took place on 6 June 1944, saw British, American and Canadian troops storm beaches along the Normandy coastline to begin the liberation of France from Nazi occupation.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

One morning he’d knocked on our door and jubilantly shown the invitation from the new occupation government ordering him to return to the university.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

Related Words

• attack
• conquest
• invasion