occupation English · revision 6864

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1292|origins=la occupo}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌɒkjʊˈpeɪʃən/, /ˌɒkjəˈpeɪʃən/ ''(UK)''; /ˌɑkjʊˈpeɪʃən/, /ˌɑkjəˈpeɪʃən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English occupacioun, [[bor|fro|occupacion|t=pursuit, work; occupancy]] (Anglo-Norman ocupacioun),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) from [[la|occupatio|t=a taking possession; business, employment]], from the past participle stem of [[m|la|occupo|alt=occupāre|t=to take possession of; to employ]] (see [[occupy]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The action of taking possession, especially of land: 1292 in the OED;^(OED 1989) the holding of lands or goods before 1325 in Barnhart, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Being employed in something, and a business or employment, is from the mid-14th century (probably 1348 in Barnhart).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Actual holding or possession of a place is from 1387.^(OED 1989) NODE dates the sense ''a job, profession'' from the mid-16th century.^(NODE 1998) The holding and ruling of a country by foreign troops is especially from 1940, of the German occupation in the Second World War.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In Cumberland and Yorkshire dialect, an ''occupation road'' was a private road for the occupiers of the land it crossed.^(Wright 1898) [[occupational|alt=Occupational]] is from 1850, in Hawthorne.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1292 – taking possession.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1348 – business, employment.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1387 – actual holding of land.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1850 – occupational.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1940 – military occupation of a country.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person's [[job]] or [[profession]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An activity that fills one's time.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The act of occupying, or the state of being occupied, a place.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The seizure and control of a country by a foreign military force, or the period of it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[occupational]]

+ * [[occupationally]]

+ * [[occupationless]]

+ * [[occupative]]

+ * [[nonoccupation]]

+ * [[reoccupation]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[occupy]]

+ * [[occupant]]

+ * [[capture]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}