occasion

From Middle English occasioun, from Middle French occasion, from Old French occasiun, from Latin occāsiōnem, noun of action from perfect passive participle occāsus, from verb occidō, from prefix ob- (“down", "away”) + verb cadō (“fall”).

• IPA^(key): /əˈkeɪʒən/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʒən
• Hyphenation: oc‧ca‧sion

occasion (countable and uncountable, plural occasions)

1. A favorable opportunity; a convenient or timely chance.

   At this point, she seized the occasion to make her own observation.

   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt  (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Romans vij:, folio ccvj, verso:

     Foꝛ ſynne toke occaſiõ by the meanes of the cõmaundement and ſo diſceaved me / and by the ſilfe cõmaundemẽt ſlewe me.

   • 1690, Edmund Waller, The Maids Tragedy Alter'd:

     I'll take the occasion which he gives to bring / Him to his death.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, “Containing five Pages of Paper”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume II, London: A Millar, , →OCLC, book IV, pages 2–3:

     That our Work, therefore, might be in no Danger of being likened to the Labours of theſe Hiſtorians, we have taken every Occaſion of interſpersing through the whole ſundry Similes, Deſcriptions, and other kind of poetical Embelliſhments.

2. The time when something happens.

   On this occasion, I'm going to decline your offer, but next time I might agree.

   • 1918, W B Maxwell, chapter XXV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 203:

     And Vickers launched forth in a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with supreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.

3. An occurrence or state of affairs which causes some event or reaction; a motive or reason.

   I had no occasion to feel offended, however.

4. Something which causes something else; a cause.
   • 1624, Iohn Smith, “What happened in the first gouernment after the alteration in the time of Captaine George Piercie their Gouernour”, in The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: , London: I D and I H for Michael Sparkes, →OCLC, book 4; reprinted in The Generall Historie of Virginia, (Bibliotheca Americana), Cleveland, Oh.: The World Publishing Company, 1966, →OCLC, page 106:

     t were too vile to ſay, and ſcarce to be beleeued, what we endured: but the occaſion was our owne, for want of prouidence, induſtrie and gouernment, […]

5. (obsolete) An occurrence or incident.
6. A particular happening; an instance or time when something occurred.

   I could think of two separate occasions when she had deliberately lied to me.

   a momentous occasion in the history of South Africa

   • 2013 April 9, Andrei Lankov, “Stay Cool. Call North Korea’s Bluff.”, in The New York Times‎, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-04-13:

     In the last two decades, North Korea has on various occasions conducted highly provocative missile and nuclear tests and promised to turn Seoul into a sea of fire.

7. Need; requirement, necessity.

   I have no occasion for firearms.

   • 1651, Jer Taylor, “Consideration of the general instruments and means serving to a holy Life: by way of Introduction”, in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. , 2nd edition, London: Francis Ashe , →OCLC, page 2:

     […] after we have ſerved our ſelves, and our own occaſions.

   • 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. , London: J Dodsley, , →OCLC, page 214:

     When my occaſions took me into France, […]

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, pages 12–13:

     I had occasion, […], to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return, […], I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.

8. A special event or function.

   Having people round for dinner was always quite an occasion at our house.

9. A reason or excuse; a motive; a persuasion.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. , part II (books IV–VI), London: [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 13, page 142:

     VVhoſe manner was all paſſengers to ſtay, / And entertaine with her occaſions ſly, […]

occasion (third-person singular simple present occasions, present participle occasioning, simple past and past participle occasioned)

1. (transitive) To cause; to produce; to induce

   It is seen that the mental changes are occasioned by a change of polarity.

   • 1831, Thomas Carlyle, “Reminiscences”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. , London: Chapman and Hall, , →OCLC, 1st book, page 9:

     To the Author's private circle the appearance of this singular Work on Clothes must have occasioned little less surprise than it has to the rest of the world.

   • 1946 November and December, “Additional London-Dartford Services”, in Railway Magazine, page 386:

     […] although overcrowding on the trains running via London Bridge has occasioned considerable discomfort to regular travellers, it was noticed that the alternative route was not extensively patronised, and that the trains were seldom more than half-filled.

   • 1951 July, “New Pennine Tunnel”, in Railway Magazine, page 432:

     The new tunnel has been associated with, but not actually occasioned by, the electrification of the Manchester-Sheffield-Wath lines of the former L.N.E.R., initiated before the war.

Borrowed from Latin occāsiōnem (accusative of occāsiō). Compare the inherited Old French ochoison, achaison (the latter being influenced by Latin accūsātiō).

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.ka.zjɔ̃/

• Audio; “une occasion”:

  (file)

occasion f (plural occasions)

1. occasion, opportunity
2. cause
3. bargain, good deal
4. secondhand or used item

• “occasion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.