Occasion Meaning
/əˈkeɪ̯ʒən/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA favorable opportunity; a convenient or timely chance.
nounThe time when something happens.
Sentence Examples
Your dress is unsuitable for the occasion.
You should change your job if the occasion arises.
The occasion was the 40th anniversary celebrations of the orchestra.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The happy birthday party was a special ____ for the whole family.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The grand opening of the new museum was a festive ____ that was attended by many celebrities.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English occasioun, from Middle French occasion, from Old French occasiun, from Latin occāsiōnem, noun of action from perfect passive participle occāsus, from verb occidō, from prefix ob- (“down", "away”) + verb cadō (“fall”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Foꝛ ſynne toke occaſiõ by the meanes of the cõmaundement and ſo diſceaved me / and by the ſilfe cõmaundemẽt ſlewe me."
— 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Romans vij:[11], folio ccvj, verso:
"I'll take the occasion which he gives to bring / Him to his death."
— 1690, Edmund Waller, The Maids Tragedy Alter'd:
"That our Work, therefore, might be in no Danger of being likened to the Labours of theſe Hiſtorians, we have taken every Occaſion of interſpersing through the whole ſundry Similes, Deſcriptions, and other kind of poetical Embelliſhments."
— 1749, Henry Fielding, “Containing five Pages of Paper”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume II, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IV, pages 2–3:
"And Vickers launched forth in a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with supreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 203:
"[I]t were too vile to ſay, and ſcarce to be beleeued, what we endured: but the occaſion was our owne, for want of prouidence, induſtrie and gouernment, […]"
— 1624, Iohn [i.e., John] Smith, “What happened in the first gouernment after the alteration in the time of Captaine George Piercie their Gouernour”, in The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: […], London: […] I[ohn] D[awson] and I[ohn] H[aviland] for Michael Sparkes, →OCLC, 4th booke, page 106:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The happy birthday party was a special ____ for the whole family.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The grand opening of the new museum was a festive ____ that was attended by many celebrities.