occupier
Britishnoun
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a person who is in possession or occupation of a house or land
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a person or thing that occupies
Explanation
An occupier is the person who legally lives in the house, apartment, or other dwelling in question. If the census taker comes to your home, she'll want to know if you are the occupier of the house, how many people live there with you, and so on. Occupier is based on occupy, which itself is from the Latin occupare, meaning to take over or possess. An occupier is also an army that lives and works in a conquered foreign country. After World War II, the American, British, French, and Russian armies were all occupiers of the German city of Berlin. Each country controlled its own areas, but eventually, the American, British, and French section became West Berlin, and the Russian section became East Berlin.
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.
Occupiers argued they had a right to Alcatraz under an 1868 treaty the U.S. government signed with the Sioux that said abandoned government land would be returned to indigenous people.
From Washington Times • Nov. 19, 2019
"Occupiers appear to have excavated two large trenches and an improvised road on or adjacent to grounds containing sensitive artifacts," he wrote.
From Reuters • Feb. 16, 2016
Occupiers came and went as they pleased, with the group’s leaders freely leaving the refuge for meetings with residents and law enforcement officials.
From Washington Post • Jan. 27, 2016
AS the campers and their parents moved inside the schoolhouse, chatting of this and that and eating from a tinfoil tray of popcorn, more and more Occupiers started to arrive.
From New York Times • Jul. 14, 2012
As we head toward the front of the Hub, other internees step into the group, and the Occupiers make noise to join our march.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
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.
