occupy
English · Thesaurus
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
occupy¹
- /ˈɒkjʊpaɪ/ UK
- /ˈɑkjəpaɪ/ US
Where it comes from
From Middle English occupien, occupyen, borrowed from Old French occuper, from Latin occupāre (“to take possession of, seize, occupy, take up, employ”), from ob (“to, on”) + capiō (“to take”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to seize, grab”). Doublet of occupate, now obsolete.
verb occupies · occupying · occupied · occupy
- To fill. The film occupied three hours of my time.
- To possess or use the time or capacity of; to engage the service of. The film occupied me for three hours.
- To fill or hold (an official position or role). I occupy the post of deputy cat catcher.
- To hold the attention of. I occupied her friend while he made his proposal.
- To fill space. The historic mansion occupied two city blocks.
- To live or reside in. The better apartments were already occupied.
- To have, or to have taken, possession or control of (a territory). The Japanese can occupy but cannot hold, and what they can hold they cannot hold long, was the opinion of General Pai Chung-hsi, Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese Army, […]
- To place the theodolite or total station at (a point).
-
To have sexual intercourse with.
God's light, these villains will make the word as odious as the word 'occupy;' which was an excellent good word before it was ill sorted
Similar: coitize
- To do business in; to busy oneself with. All the ships of the sea, with their mariners, were in thee to occupy the merchandise.
- To use; to expend; to make use of. all the gold that was occupied for the work
Similar: go to bed with, sleep with
Occupy²
proper noun
-
Synonym of OWS (“"Occupy Wall Street" protest movement”).
Similar: OWS
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: inhabit, reside, take, fill, invade, interest, engage, engross, concern, busy, use up, absorb, worry, lodge in, occupancy, populate
verb
Similar: go to bed with, sleep with
Translations
Every language
verb to fill (time)
| Português | ocupar |
|---|---|
| Français | occuper |
| Italiano | occupare |
| Русский | занима́ть zanimátʹ, заня́ть zanjátʹ |
verb time or space
| Español | ocupar |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 花費 /花费 huāfèi, 佔 /占 zhàn |
| Português | ocupar |
| Français | occuper |
| Deutsch | in Anspruch nehmen, belegen |
| Italiano | occupare |
| Русский | занима́ть zanimátʹ, заня́ть zanjátʹ |
verb hold a position
| Español | ocupar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 占める shimeru |
| 中文 | 據有 /据有 jùyǒu |
| Português | ocupar |
| Français | occuper |
| Deutsch | besetzen |
| Русский | занима́ть zanimátʹ, заня́ть zanjátʹ |
verb to fill (space)
| Português | ocupar |
|---|---|
| Français | occuper |
| Italiano | occupare |
| Русский | занима́ть zanimátʹ, заня́ть zanjátʹ |
verb reside in
| Español | ocupar |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 居住 jūzhù |
| Português | ocupar |
| Français | occuper, habiter |
| Deutsch | bewohnen |
| Italiano | occupare |
| Русский | занима́ть zanimátʹ, заня́ть zanjátʹ |
verb have (taken) control of
| Español | ocupar |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 占める shimeru |
| 中文 | 佔據 /占据 zhànjù |
| Português | ocupar |
| Français | occuper |
| Deutsch | besetzen, okkupieren |
| Русский | оккупи́ровать okkupírovatʹ, занима́ть zanimátʹ, заня́ть zanjátʹ, завладева́ть zavladevátʹ, завладе́ть zavladétʹ |
| العربية | اِحْتَلَّ iḥtalla |
| עברית | הִתְנַחֵל hitnaẖél |
Talk about this word "occupy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/occupy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. occupy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/occupy "occupy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/occupy.Cite this
@misc{occupy_2026,
title = {occupy},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/occupy},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
