occupation

[ ok-yuh-pey-shuhn ]

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.

occupation

/ 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 bridge

   occupation road

Other Words From

• occu·pation·less adjective
• occu·pative adjective
• nonoc·cu·pation noun
• reoc·cu·pation noun
• self-occu·pation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of occupation¹

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”; occupy ) + -iō -ion

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

Georgia has a population of some 3.7 million and 20% of its territory is under Russian military occupation in two breakaway regions.

From BBC

The immigration salary list, external replaced what was previously called the shortage occupation list.

From BBC

The committee also noted that “encroachments by the State, who is the custodian of the Wakf interests, is common”, listing hundreds of instances of such “unauthorised occupation” of waqf land by government authorities.

From BBC

“It is not only the occupation that is killing us — the world is complicit in what we are suffering,” Mr. Abu Amra added, referring to the presence of Israeli forces in Gaza.

From New York Times

The researchers prompted four AI image generators for modern, portrait-style photographs of chemists in industry or academic occupations.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• attack
• conquest
• invasion