occasion

[uh-key-zhuhn]

noun

1. a particular time, especially as marked by certain circumstances or occurrences.

   They met on three occasions.

2. a special or important time, event, ceremony, celebration, etc..

   His birthday will be quite an occasion.

3. a convenient or favorable time, opportunity, or juncture.

   This slack period would be a good occasion to take inventory.

   Synonyms: opening, chance

4. the immediate or incidental cause or reason for some action or result.

   What is the occasion for this uproar?

   Synonyms: influence, inducement, motive

5. (in the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead) the coincidence of the eternal objects forming a specific point-event.

6. Obsolete.,  occasions,

   1. needs or necessities.

   2. necessary business matters.

      to go about one's lawful occasions.

verb (used with object)

1. to give occasion or cause for; bring about.

   Synonyms: create, produce, originate, motivate

occasion

/ əˈkeɪʒən /

noun

1. (sometimes foll by of) the time of a particular happening or event

2. (sometimes foll by for) a reason or cause (to do or be something); grounds

   there was no occasion to complain

3. an opportunity (to do something); chance

4. a special event, time, or celebration

   the party was quite an occasion

5. every so often

6. to have the courage, wit, etc, to meet the special demands of a situation

7. to avail oneself of an opportunity (to do something)

verb

1. (tr) to bring about, esp incidentally or by chance

Other Word Forms

• preoccasioned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of occasion¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English occasioun, from Old French occasion, from Latin occāsiōn-, stem of occāsiō, literally, “a falling out,” from occās(us) “fallen down” (past participle of occidere “to fall down, set,” from oc- oc- + -cidere, combining form of cadere “to fall”) + -iō -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of occasion¹

C14: from Latin occāsiō a falling down, from occidere, from ob- down + cadere to fall

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. on occasion, now and then; from time to time; occasionally.

   She visits New York on occasion.

see on occasion; rise to the occasion.

Synonym Study

See cause.

Example Sentences

In some instances, they had been asked to explain what had been said, on other occasions, prisoners were instructed by staff to switch to English.

Read more on BBC

It has taken shots at Israeli soldiers on a number of occasions, the Israeli military has said.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

On one occasion, her former partner entered her home and locked her out, despite an injunction banning him from the property.

Read more on BBC

BBC News investigations have identified thousands of occasions when sewage was spilled during dry weather and occasions when treatment works released sewage before they treated their legally stipulated volume.

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It was also just the second occasion that the Hammers have lost five successive top-flight matches at home, with the previous coming almost 100 years ago, between February and April in 1930-31.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• affair 
• celebration 
• circumstance 
• episode 
• experience 
• incident 
• milestone 
• moment 
• scene 
• thing 
• time