occupant

American  

[ok-yuh-puhnt] / ˈɒk jə pənt /

noun

• occupants
  plural

1. a person, family, group, or organization that lives in, occupies, or has quarters or space in or on something.

   the occupant of a taxicab; the occupants of the building.

2. a tenant of a house, estate, office, etc.; resident.

3. Law.

   1. an owner through occupancy.

   2. one who is in actual possession.

---

occupant British  

/ ˈɒkjʊpənt /

noun

1. a person, thing, etc, holding a position or place

2. law a person who has possession of something, esp an estate, house, etc; tenant

3. law a person who acquires by occupancy the title to something previously without an owner

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonoccupant
  noun
• preoccupant
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• occupants
  plural

Etymology

Origin of occupant

1590–1600; < Middle French occupant, present participle of occuper. See occupy, -ant

Explanation

An occupant is someone who lives or stays at a place for awhile. A lot of your junk mail is addressed "To occupant" because the sender doesn't know who lives at your address. Being an occupant means you're occupying a place. This has nothing to do with owning a house or renting an apartment; if you live there, you're an occupant. There are other occupants too, as in politics. The President is often called "the current occupant of the White House," who replaced the former occupant. That kind of occupant has as much to do with politics as living space.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

occupant occupants

Davis is the only occupant of the Cadillac still alive today.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

And many believe he will want a new chancellor to replace the current occupant of Number 11 Downing Street, Rachel Reeves.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

The aforementioned “wig room” has been outfitted with an enormous mirror and a built-in vanity perfect for trying on different styles—however a future occupant could easily use this space as a flex room or office.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

All living US ex-presidents -- with the notable absence of current White House occupant Donald Trump -- joined a star-studded lineup Thursday for the opening of Barack Obama's presidential center in Chicago.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

There was only one occupant at the moment, obviously the young English lady referred to by the conductor.

From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie

In a statement, governor Lars Fause said when the vessel sailed past the animal "its occupants are said to have spotted a polar bear sleeping on land".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

At the same time, the houses themselves may be aging along with their occupants, requiring more maintenance.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

That was still a 10% increase compared to the year before, but Nichols said that from his analysis, that rise could be more attributed to hotels raising their rates, and not because of more occupants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

One reason is that the annals of Congress are full of female successors who did exactly that, partly out of fidelity to their seats’ previous occupants.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

They watched the gaslights go dim in several rooms, indicating that the occupants were settling in for the night.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson

Related Words

• denizen
• dweller
• holder
• incumbent
• inhabitant
• renter
• resident
• tenant