Etymologically
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occupation

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:43. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌɒkjʊˈpeɪʃən/, /ˌɒkjəˈpeɪʃən/ (UK); /ˌɑkjʊˈpeɪʃən/, /ˌɑkjəˈpeɪʃən/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English occupacioun, borrowed from Old French occupacion (“pursuit, work; occupancy”) (Anglo-Norman ocupacioun),[2][3][4] from Latin occupatio (“a taking possession; business, employment”), from the past participle stem of occupāre (“to take possession of; to employ”) (see occupy).[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of taking possession, especially of land: 1292 in the OED;[6] the holding of lands or goods before 1325 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Being employed in something, and a business or employment, is from the mid-14th century (probably 1348 in Barnhart).[3][2] Actual holding or possession of a place is from 1387.[6] NODE dates the sense a job, profession from the mid-16th century.[7] The holding and ruling of a country by foreign troops is especially from 1940, of the German occupation in the Second World War.[6][3] In Cumberland and Yorkshire dialect, an occupation road was a private road for the occupiers of the land it crossed.[8] Occupational is from 1850, in Hawthorne.[2]

Timeline

  • 1292 – taking possession.[6]
  • c. 1348 – business, employment.[2]
  • 1387 – actual holding of land.[6]
  • 1850 – occupational.[2]
  • 1940 – military occupation of a country.[6][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person's job or profession.
  2. An activity that fills one's time.
  3. The act of occupying, or the state of being occupied, a place.
  4. The seizure and control of a country by a foreign military force, or the period of it.

Word family

  • occupational
  • occupationally
  • occupationless
  • occupative
  • nonoccupation
  • reoccupation

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)