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 road

   occupation bridge

Other Word Forms

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

The Philippines had voiced opposition to China's plans for a "nature reserve" there, calling it a pretext for the eventual occupation of the site.

Read more on Barron's

"We will continue to work responsibly with the mediators to ensure that the occupation is bound to protect the rights of our people and end their suffering," they said in a joint statement.

Read more on Barron's

The Nazi occupation was only one of many reasons his childhood was not a happy one, although his mother and certain teachers recognized his musical abilities early and tried to help as they could.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Though some federal workers in high-demand occupations have gotten jobs quickly, many others face a crowded market and slow searches in a tough white-collar hiring market.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Insisting he was unbowed, he said the deaths would be “the fuel of victory, the path to Jerusalem and a stain that will forever haunt the occupation.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• attack 
• conquest 
• invasion