occupation

American  

[ok-yuh-pey-shuhn] / ˌɒk jəˈpeɪ ʃən /

noun

• occupations
  plural

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• occupations
  plural

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

See Examples For:

occupation occupations

The classic example is of dubious historical accuracy, but originates from the British occupation of India.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

As civil resistance grew, ICE agents were eventually forced to change their approach from military occupation to a new phase that relied on covert tactics and the collaboration of local law enforcement.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

The strikes further strained a power grid that survived the 1990 Iraqi invasion and occupation, as well as a round of Iranian attacks earlier this year.

From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026

Liudmyla says that, under occupation, she helped care for orphans and took food to Ukrainian forces, who gave her a Ukrainian flag with notes of thanks written on it.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

There are groups of people in the Resistance who produce regular news-sheets and distribute them so that people can still find out the truth about this war and the occupation.

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

What the note points out is that workers in highly exposed occupations are finding it harder to transition to other jobs once they have lost theirs.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

The International Labour Organization estimates that 12.7 million Filipinos - more than one in four workers - are employed in occupations exposed to generative AI, the highest share in South East Asia.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

Within the U.S., they found that AI is being used across a large number of occupations.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Education experts said one possible response to such a scenario is for state legislatures that set licensing requirements to decide some occupations — like barbers and stylists — actually need less training.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

You had no choice but to have the sugar mill right there, and sugar mills require a wide range of occupations.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• attack
• conquest
• invasion