occasion

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For the occasion was a festive one, for some reason: I forget why.

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Definitions (44)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. noun An event or happening; an incident.
  2. noun The time at which an event occurs.
  3. noun A significant event.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (25)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (6)

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Examples (50)

  • Appropriate for the occasion were the words which he read from the New Testament of the widow of Nain,--how, "as Jesus came nigh to the city, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said, 'Weep not Consoling and comforting were his own words, which sank deep into the hearts of the stricken people; and though the good man said, "Weep not!" —  Winning His Way
  • And then Olivia did brighten up a little Greta had begged in the most loving way that Olivia's dress and bonnet for the occasion should be her gift, and the dark heliotrope silk and dainty bonnet to match were at that moment in Greta's wardrobe I tell Greta that it is far too handsome," replied Olivia, "and that Marcus will object to my being so smart, but she only laughs at me. —  Doctor Luttrell's First Patient
  • But with the disappearance of Hood's army from that theater of operations, all reason for that plan of "territorial" strategy had disappeared, and the occasion was then presented, for the first time, for the wholly different strategical plan of Sherman, of which Lee's army was the sole military objective. —  Forty-Six Years in the Army
  • Densely crowded in every part, St. Martin's Hall upon this occasion was the scene of as remarkable a reception and of as brilliant a success as was in any way possible. —  Charles Dickens as a Reader
  • The great Condé, when complimented on his courage, always said that he took good care never to call upon it unless the occasion were absolutely necessary. —  The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1 (of 3) 1809-1859
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

subject ·  account ·  cause ·  scene ·  opportunity ·  reason ·  object ·  moment ·  incident ·  ceremony

Used in the same contextWord Family

occasion:   occasions ·  occasioned
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Latin occāsiō, occāsiōn-, from occāsus, past participle of occidere, to fall : ob-, down; see ob- + cadere, to fall; see kad- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English occasyon, from Old French occasion, French occasion = Provencal occasio, ocaizo, ochaiso, uchaiso = Spanish ocasion = Portuguese occasião = Italian occasione, from Latin occasio(n-), opportunity, fit time, favorable moment, from occidere, past participle occasus, fall: see occident. Cf. encheason, an older form of occasion.
  2. = French occasionner = Provencal ocaisonar, ochaisonar, acaizonar = Spanish ocasionar = Portuguese occasionar = Italian occasionare, from Middle Latin occasionare, cause, occasion, from Latin occasio(n-), a cause, occasion: see occasion, n.
 

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/əˈkeɪzhən/
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