occasion English · revision 5612

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1382|origins=la cadere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈkeɪ.ʒən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English occasioun, [[bor|fro|ocasion|t=cause, reason, opportunity]] or directly from [[la|occāsiō|t=opportunity, fit time]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) in Late Latin “cause”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from occāsus, the past participle of [[m|la|occidere|t=to fall down, go down, set]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[m|la|ob-|t=down, away]] and [[m|la|cadere|t=to fall]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from [[ine-pro|*kad-|t=to fall]].^(Etymonline) The idea is a falling together, or juncture, of circumstances.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) It is related to [[cadence]] and [[accident]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A favourable juncture or opportunity, and a reason or cause: 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A pretext or excuse is from 1388 and obsolete.^(OED 1989) The time at which something happens is from the 1560s, 1568 in Barnhart,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and a juncture calling for action, a particular case, from the 16th century.^(Hoad 1986) Opportunity personified as a woman bald behind, as in ''take occasion by the forelock'', is from about 1592.^(OED 1989) The verb, to cause, is from the mid-15th century, about 1445 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) ''Occasional'' first meant “casual” in the 16th century,^(Hoad 1986) and happening now and then later.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1382 – an opportunity; a cause.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1445 – the verb, to cause.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560s – the time of an event.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1592 – Occasion personified.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A particular time when something happens.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A special event or celebration.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A suitable time or [[opportunity]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(formal)'' A reason or cause: ''there was no occasion to complain''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(formal)'' To cause something.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[occasional]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[occasionally]]

+ * [[cadence]]

+ * [[accident]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}