Origin: Middle English < Middle French < Latinoccident- (stem of occidēns) present participle of occidere to fall, (of the sun) to set, equivalent to oc-oc- + cid- (combining form of cadere to fall) + -ent--ent
late 14c., from O.Fr. occident (12c.), from L. occidentem (nom. occidens) "western sky, part of the sky in which the sun sets," originally "setting" (adj.), prp. of occidere "fall down, go down" (see occasion).