occupy
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
Middle English, from Old French occuper, from Latin occupare (“to take possession of, seize, occupy, take up, employ”), from ob (“to, on”) + capere (“to take”).
Verb [edit]
occupy (third-person singular simple present occupies, present participle occupying, simple past and past participle occupied)
- (transitive) To fill (time).
- The film occupied three hours of my time.
- (transitive) To fill (space).
- The historic mansion occupied two city blocks.
- (transitive) To live or reside in.
- We occupy a small flat.
- 1992, Rudolf M. Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, page vii
- With fresh material, taxonomic conclusions are leavened by recognition that the material examined reflects the site it occupied; a herbarium packet gives one only a small fraction of the data desirable for sound conclusions. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get […]
- (transitive, military) To have, or to have taken, possession or control of (a territory).
- 1940, in The China monthly review, volumes 94-95, page 370 [1]:
- The Japanese can occupy but cannot hold, and what they can hold they cannot hold long, was the opinion of General Pai Chung-hsi, Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese Army, […]
- 1975, Esmé Cecil Wingfield-Stratford, King Charles and King Pym, 1637-1643, page 330 [2]:
- Rupert, with his usual untamable energy, was scouring the country — but at first in the wrong direction, that of Aylesbury, another keypoint in the outer ring of Oxford defences, which he occupied but could not hold.
- 1983, Arthur Keppel-Jones, Rhodes and Rhodesia: The White Conquest of Zimbabwe, 1884-1902, page 462:
- One of the rebel marksmen, who had taken up position on a boulder, was knocked off it by the recoil of his weapon every time he fired. Again the attack achieved nothing. Positions were occupied, but could not be held.
- 1991, Werner Spies, John William Gabriel, Max Ernst collages: the invention of the surrealist universe, page 333:
- Germany occupied France for three years while France struggled to make payments that were a condition of surrender.
- 2006, John Michael Francis, Iberia and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History, page 496:
- Spain occupied, but could not populate, and its failure to expand Florida led Britain to consider the peninsula a logical extension of its colonial holdings.
- 1940, in The China monthly review, volumes 94-95, page 370 [1]:
- (transitive) To fill or hold (an official position or role).
- I occupy the post of deputy cat catcher.
- (transitive) To possess or use the time or capacity of; to engage the service of.
- The film occupied me for three hours.
- I occupy myself on Wiktionary for hours a day.
- (transitive) To hold the attention of.
- I occupied her friend while he made his proposal.
- (transitive, obsolete) To cohabit, to have sexual intercourse with.[1]
- 1590s: God's light, these villains will make the word as odious as the word 'occupy;' which was an excellent good word before it was ill sorted — William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2, II.iv [3].
- (transitive, surveying) To place the theodolite or total station at (a point).
Synonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
reside in
have (taken) control of
to use the time or capacity of
hold a position
hold attention of
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
References [edit]
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884-1928, and First Supplement, 1933
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Sidney J. Baker, The Australian Language, second edition, 1966.
External links [edit]
- occupy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- occupy in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
