occupare

Forms

occupare (first-person singular present òccupo, first-person singular past historic occupài, past participle occupàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin occupō (“to seize, take possession of”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin verb is formed from the intensive prefix ob- and the root of capiō (“to take”).^[2][4][5] Devoto explains the ⟨-u-⟩ as the normal Latin weakening of ⟨-a-⟩ before ⟨p⟩ in an open inner syllable, in a durative stem *-capāre;^[6] de Vaan thinks the verb was first formed on a noun in -ceps (“taker”), like anticipō (“to take beforehand”).^[7] The same learned word is French occuper and Spanish ocupar.^[3]

A popular outcome of the Latin verb may survive in Lucchese ⟨copo⟩ “full”, as DEI and Meyer-Lübke suggest,^[8][9] and in a dialect derivative, Portuguese cupada (“pregnant”).^[8] Latin capiō goes back to Proto-Italic *kap-i-; the root is shared with Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍆𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hafjan, “to lift”), but de Vaan doubts that it is Indo-European in origin.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is Guittone d'Arezzo (before 1294), with the sense “to invade a place and keep it for oneself”.^[2][4] Guittone wrote that need forces one “l'altrui occupare” (to seize what belongs to others).^[10] The Florentine Ordinamenti di giustizia forbid anyone, above all the magnates, to take or hold against right the possessions of monasteries, churches or hospitals.^[11][10]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the verb spread from seizure to filling and using: Dante has it for “to come and live in a place” (1304–1308), the Vite dei Santi Padri for filling a space, and Dino Compagni for putting something to use (1310–1312).^[2] Matteo Villani (before 1363) applies it to holding an office.^[2] The GDLI notes that in common use the verb long implied an illegitimate taking, even one made in good faith.^[10]

The pronominal occuparsi “to apply oneself to something” is recorded in the 14th century, in the vernacular Guido delle Colonne; later senses are “to look after someone” (1825), “to take a job” (1790) and “to meddle”, which Tommaseo illustrates with s'occupa de' fatti miei (1869).^[2] The sense “to employ someone” appears in the Milanese press in 1802.^[2] The noun occupazione followed the same path, from the act of seizing (1301) to “work, employment” (1760–1761) and, in economics, “the employed workforce” (1958).^[2] The modern dictionaries also record the taking over of factories, schools or houses as a protest.^[12][4][5]

Timeline

• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses occupare “to seize”.^[2]
• 1301 – Occupazione is recorded in a statute.^[2]
• 1304–1308 – Dante uses the verb for “to come to live in”.^[2]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses occupato “busy”.^[2]
• 14th century – The pronominal occuparsi “to apply oneself” appears.^[2]
• 1802 – Occupare “to employ” appears in the Milanese press.^[2]
• 1869 – Tommaseo records occuparsi for “to meddle”.^[2]
• 1963 – Occupazionale, modelled on English occupational, is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take possession of a place and settle in it, lawfully or not; to occupy a building as a protest: Gli studenti hanno occupato il liceo per tre giorni.^{[4][12][5][13]}
2. To invade and hold a territory by military force: L'esercito occupò le colline intorno alla città.^[4][12][5]
3. To reserve or take a seat or place for one's own use: Puoi occuparmi una sedia vicino al palco?^[4][12][14]
4. To fill or take up a space, (figurative) to take up part of a text: Il pianoforte occupa mezza sala.^{[4][12][5][13]}
5. To hold an office or position: Occupa da anni la carica di sindaco.^{[4][12][5][14]}
6. To employ, give work to: La nuova fabbrica occuperà duecento persone.^[4][5][13]
7. To spend or fill time; to keep someone busy or absorbed: Occupa le serate leggendo gialli.^[4][5][14]
8. occuparsi: to deal with, work on or take an interest in something; to look after someone: Mia sorella si occupa di restauro.^{[12][5][14][13]}

Word family

• occupazione
• occupato
• occupante
• occupabile
• occupazionale
• disoccupato
• disoccupazione
• sottoccupato
• rioccupare

Related words

• preoccupare
• capire
• Latin occupō
• French occuper

Usage notes

The present is stressed on the first syllable, òccupo;^[1][14][12] Zingarelli records the stress occùpo as obsolete and poetic.^[1][14][12] Occupati dei fatti tuoi “mind your own business” is a common rebuke.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2624
10. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 791
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli