oc·ca·sion
(ə-kā́zhən)
[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin occāsiō, occāsiōn-, from occāsus past participle of occidere, to fall, ob-, down; see ob–, + cadere, to fall.]
noun
- An event or happening; an incident.
- The time at which an event occurs.
- A significant event.
- A favorable or appropriate time or juncture; an opportunity. See synonyms at opportunity
- Something that brings on or precipitates an action, condition, or event, especially the immediate cause. See synonyms at cause
- Something that provides a reason or justification; a ground.
- A need created by a particular circumstance: “He must buy what he has little occasion for” (Laurence Sterne)
- A large or important social gathering.
- Archaic Personal requirements or necessities.
transitive verb: -sioned, -sion·ing, -sions.
- To provide occasion for; cause: “The year's annual reports occasion an especially revealing glimpse of how corporations lend . . . embellishment to the stark numbers of the comptroller's office” (Mark Muro)
idioms
- on occasion
- From time to time; now and then.
