- a person's regular work or profession; job or principal activity
- any activity on which time is spent by a person
- the act of occupying or the state of being occupied
- the control of a country by a foreign military power
- the period of time that a nation, place, or position is occupied
- (modifier) for the use of the occupier of a particular property: occupation road, occupation bridge
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
oc•cu•pa•tion /ˌɑkyəˈpeɪʃən/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- [countable]
- a person's usual or principal work, esp. in earning a living.
- any activity that a person does.
- the act of occupying an area, esp. by military forces.
oc•cu•pa•tion
(ok′yə pā′shən),USA pronunciation n.
oc′cu•pa′tion•less, adj.
oc′cu•pa′tive, adj.
- a person's usual or principal work or business, esp. as a means of earning a living;
vocation:Her occupation was dentistry. - any activity in which a person is engaged.
- possession, settlement, or use of land or property.
- the act of occupying.
- the state of being occupied.
- the seizure and control of an area by military forces, esp. foreign territory.
- the term of control of a territory by foreign military forces:Danish resistance during the German occupation.
- tenure or the holding of an office or official function:during his occupation of the vice presidency.
- Latin occupātiōn- (stem of occupātiō), equivalent. to occupāt(us) (past participle of occupāre; see occupy) + -iōn- -ion
- Middle French occupation
- Middle English occupacioun 1250–1300
oc′cu•pa′tive, adj.
- 1. employment, pursuit, craft, métier. Occupation, business, profession, trade refer to the activity to which one regularly devotes oneself, esp. one's regular work, or means of getting a living. Occupation is the general word:a pleasant or congenial occupation.Business esp. suggests a commercial or mercantile occupation:the printing business.Profession implies an occupation requiring special knowledge and training in some field of science or learning:the profession of teaching.Trade suggests an occupation involving manual training and skill:one of the building trades. 3. occupancy.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
occupation /ˌɒkjʊˈpeɪʃən/ n
'occupation' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
A
- agriculture
- annex
- artist
- artiste
- avocation
- B
- back shift
- Bantustan
- big time
- blind spot
- book-keeping
- bookmaker
- building
- butterfly
- C1
- C2
- calling
- cap
- career
- census
- civilian
- cook
- craft
- criticism
- crofting
- D
- daycare
- drapery
- dressmaker
- drover
- E
- East Timor
- Eden
- educate
- electrician
- employ
- employment
- -er
- -ery
- firefighting
- fishing
- furrier
- furriery
- game
- garb
- gardener
- George II
- grammarian
- groom