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Occident

[ok-si-duh nt]
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noun
  1. the Occident,
    1. the West; the countries of Europe and America.
    2. Western Hemisphere.
  2. (lowercase) the west; the western regions.
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Origin of Occident

Middle English < Middle French < Latin occident- (stem of occidēns) present participle of occidere to fall, (of the sun) to set, equivalent to oc- oc- + cid- (combining form of cadere to fall) + -ent- -ent
Can be confusedaccident Occident
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for the occident

Occident

noun the Occident
  1. the countries of Europe and America
  2. the western hemisphere
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occident

noun
  1. a literary or formal word for west Compare orient
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Word Origin

C14: via Old French from Latin occidere to fall, go down (with reference to the setting sun); see occasion
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for the occident

Occident

n.

late 14c., "western part" (of the heavens or earth), from Old French occident (12c.) or directly from Latin occidentem (nominative occidens) "western sky, sunset, part of the sky in which the sun sets," noun use of adjective meaning "setting," from present participle of occidere "fall down, go down" (see occasion (n.)).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
the occident in Culture

The Occident

Term referring originally to Europe but now including North America and South America as well. Occident means “the West,” as opposed to Orient, “the East.”

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.