occupy definition | Dictionary.com

oc⋅cu⋅py

[ok-yuh-pahy]

verb, -pied, -py⋅ing.

–verb (used with object)

1.	to take or fill up (space, time, etc.): I occupied my evenings reading novels.

2.	to engage or employ the mind, energy, or attention of: Occupy the children with a game while I prepare dinner.

3.	to be a resident or tenant of; dwell in: We occupied the same house for 20 years.

4.	to take possession and control of (a place), as by military invasion.

5.	to hold (a position, office, etc.).

–verb (used without object)

6.	to take or hold possession.

Origin:
1300–50; ME occupien < MF occuper < L occupāre to seize, take hold, take up, make one's own, equiv. to oc- oc- + -cup-, comb. form of capere to take, seize + -āre inf. suffix

Related forms:

oc⋅cu⋅pi⋅a⋅ble, adjective

oc⋅cu⋅pi⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1, 2, 4, 5. See have. 2. use, busy. 4. capture, seize.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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oc·cu·py (ŏk'yə-pī')

tr.v. oc·cu·pied, oc·cu·py·ing, oc·cu·pies

To fill up (time or space): a lecture that occupied three hours.
To dwell or reside in.
To hold or fill (an office or position).
To seize possession of and maintain control over by or as if by conquest.
To engage or employ the attention or concentration of: occupied the children with coloring books.

[Middle English occupien, alteration of Old French occuper, from Latin occupāre, to seize : ob-, intensive pref.; see ob- + capere, to take; see kap- in Indo-European roots.]
oc'cu·pi'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Occupy

Oc"cu*py\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Occupied; p. pr. & vb. n. Occupying.] [OE. occupien, F. occuper, fr.L. occupare; ob (see Ob-) + a word akin to capere to take. See Capacious.]

1. To take or hold possession of; to hold or keep for use; to possess.

Woe occupieth the fine [/end] of our gladness. --Chaucer.

The better apartments were already occupied. --W. Irving.

2. To hold, or fill, the dimensions of; to take up the room or space of; to cover or fill; as, the camp occupies five acres of ground. --Sir J. Herschel.

3. To possess or use the time or capacity of; to engage the service of; to employ; to busy.

An archbishop may have cause to occupy more chaplains than six. --Eng. Statute (Hen. VIII. )

They occupied themselves about the Sabbath. --2 Macc. viii. 27.

4. To do business in; to busy one's self with. [Obs.]

All the ships of the sea, with their mariners, were in thee to occupy the merchandise. --Ezek. xxvii. 9.

Not able to occupy their old crafts. --Robynson (More's Utopia).

5. To use; to expend; to make use of. [Obs.]

All the gold that was occupied for the work. --Ex. xxxviii. 24.

They occupy not money themselves. --Robynson (More's Utopia).

6. To have sexual intercourse with. [Obs.] --Nares.

Occupy

Oc"cu*py\, v. i. 1. To hold possession; to be an occupant. "Occupy till I come." --Luke xix. 13.

2. To follow business; to traffic.

Language Translation for : occupy

Spanish: ocupar,

German: einnehmen,

Japanese: 占める

More Translations »

occupy

c.1340, "to take possession of," also "to take up space or time, employ (someone)," from O.Fr. occuper, from L. occupare "take over, seize, possess, occupy," from ob "over" + intensive form of capere "to grasp, seize" (see capable). During 16c.-17c. a euphemism for "have sexual intercourse with," which caused it to fall from polite usage.

"A captaine? Gods light these villaines wil make the word as odious as the word occupy, which was an excellent good worde before it was il sorted." [Doll Tearsheet in "2 Henry IV"]

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