occasion

English Online Dictionary. What means occasion‎? What does occasion mean?

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈkeɪʒən/
• Rhymes: -eɪʒən
• Hyphenation: oc‧ca‧sion

Noun

occasion (countable and uncountable, plural occasions)

1. A favorable opportunity; a convenient or timely chance. [from 14th c.]
2. The time when something happens.
3. An occurrence or state of affairs which causes some event or reaction; a motive or reason. [from 14th c.]

4. Something which causes something else; a cause. [from 14th c.]
5. (obsolete) An occurrence or incident. [14th–18th c.]

   Synonyms: event, happening; see also Thesaurus:occurrence

6. A particular happening; an instance or time when something occurred. [from 15th c.]

   Synonyms: instant, point in time; see also Thesaurus:point in time
7. A need; requirement, necessity. [from 16th c.]
8. A special event or function. [from 19th c.]

9. A reason or excuse; a motive; a persuasion.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

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

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

Translations

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French occasion. Since the late 20th century an anglicized pronunciation has come into use based on the mistaken assumption of this being an English loanword. The English word occasion lacks the sense "secondhand automobile" altogether, however.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (French-based) /ɔ.kaːˈzjɔn/, [ɔ.kaˈzjɔ̃], (influenced by English) /ˌɔˈkeː.zjən/
• Rhymes: -ɔn

Noun

occasion m (plural occasions, diminutive occasionnetje n)

1. secondhand automobile

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “occasion”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Further reading

• occasion on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔ.ka.zjɔ̃/

Noun

occasion f (plural occasions)

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

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Dutch: occasion

Further reading

• “occasion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.