occurrence
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
something that happens, especially an event that is not planned.
an instance of something happening; a specific event or incident.
Simple“Power cuts are a common occurrence during the stormy winter months.”
In context“The sudden appearance of the rare bird in a suburban garden was such an unusual occurrence that it drew birdwatchers from across the country.”
UsageOften used with adjectives like 'common', 'rare', or 'everyday'.
PitfallIt was a strange occurance. It was a strange occurrence.The word is frequently misspelled; remember it has a double 'c' and a double 'r'.
- 02 C1 Advanced
the fact of something existing or being found in a place.
the fact or frequency of something appearing or existing within a particular place or dataset.
Simple“Scientists are studying the occurrence of microplastics in the local river.”
In context“The researchers noted a high occurrence of specific mineral deposits along the fault line, suggesting a complex geological history.”
UsageOften followed by the preposition 'of'.
Teacher's tipIn academic writing, this sense is used to discuss how often a specific feature or substance appears in a sample.
SynonymsAntonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
the way a verb describes an action happening over time.
the lexical aspect or 'aktionsart' of a verb or predicate, specifically regarding how it unfolds in time.
Simple“The professor explained how the occurrence of the verb changed its meaning.”
In context“In formal semantics, the occurrence of a predicate is analyzed based on whether the action has a natural endpoint or continues indefinitely.”
UsageUsed as a technical term in linguistics and grammar.
Teacher's tipThis is a highly specialized term; most learners will only encounter it in advanced linguistics textbooks.
Synonymsaspectaktionsart
Usage explain occurrence · occurrence of · predict occurrence
“From 2001 to 2003, my laboratory studied the occurrence of those protozoa at six sewage treatment plants – one each in Arizona and California and four in Florida.”
“Machine learning requires ample training data in order to make future predictions, but extreme events are by nature rare occurrences.”
From Middle French occurrence, from Medieval Latin occurrentia. Morphologically occur + -ence.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.