ENGLISH
REFERENCE

occupation

n. C / U
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˌɑkjəˈpeɪʃən// UK //ˌɒkjʊpˈeɪʃən// oc·cu·pa·tion General-service

n. a job or profession that you do regularly. It can also mean the act of a military force taking control of another country.

n. a person's regular work or profession; alternatively, the action or state of a military force taking and maintaining control over a foreign territory.


SIMPLE

Please state your name, age, and occupation on the form.

CONTEXTUAL

The city remained under military occupation for three years until the peace treaty was finally signed.

COMPLEX

While her primary occupation was medicine, she devoted her leisure hours to the study of classical architecture and urban planning.

Synonyms
Origin

From Middle English occupacioun, borrowed from Middle French occupacion, occupation, from Latin occupātiō, occupātiōnis, from occupō (“occupy, seize”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to seize, grab”). By surface analysis, occupy + -ation.

Usage

Countable when referring to a job or profession; both countable and uncountable when referring to military control or the act of inhabiting a space.

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