occupy

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈɑkjəpaɪ/ UK /ˈɒkjʊpaɪ/ See IPA manual

Freq #10355

Meanings

1

verb
To fill or take up a space or amount of time.

The new sofa occupies most of the living room.
2

verb
To keep someone busy or fill their attention.

The puzzle occupied the children for the whole afternoon.
3

verb
To live or work in a place.

A young couple now occupies the flat upstairs.
4

verb
To enter and take control of a place by military force.

Soldiers occupied the town within hours.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to fill or take up a space... take

2 verb · to keep someone busy or... engage

4 verb · to enter and take control... invade

Word family

Forms occupiedoccupiesoccupying

Derived forms cooccupydeoccupymisoccupymultioccupynonoccupyingoccupiableoccupier preoccupyreoccupy

Related forms occupant occupation

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

occupied territory
land controlled by an occupying military force

Adjective + noun

Etymology

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.

*kap- Proto-Indo-European occupien Middle English occuper Old French occupō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# occupy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈɑkjəpaɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɒkjʊpaɪ/
**Frequency rank:** 10355

## Meanings
1. To fill or take up a space or amount of time.
2. To keep someone busy or fill their attention.
3. To live or work in a place.
4. To enter and take control of a place by military force.

## Examples
- The new sofa occupies most of the living room.
- The puzzle occupied the children for the whole afternoon.
- A young couple now occupies the flat upstairs.
- Soldiers occupied the town within hours.

## Derived Forms
- cooccupy
- deoccupy
- misoccupy
- multioccupy
- nonoccupying
- occupiable
- occupier
- preoccupy
- reoccupy

## Related Forms
- occupant
- occupation

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *kap-
- Root: occupien
- Root: occuper
- Root: occupō

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Occupy comes 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. Modern senses include to fill or take up a space or amount of time and to keep someone busy or fill their attention. The wider word family includes derivatives such as cooccupy, deoccupy, misoccupy, multioccupy, nonoccupying, and occupiable and related forms such as occupant and occupation.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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