occur

English

Etymology

Originally "meet, meet in argument", borrowed from Middle French occurrer, from Latin occurrō (“run to meet, run against, befall, present itself”) from prefix ob- (“against”) + verb currō (“run, hurry, move”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈkɜː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈkɝ/

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

Verb

occur (third-person singular simple present occurs, present participle occurring, simple past and past participle occurred)

1. (intransitive) To happen or take place.

   The liftoff will occur in exactly twelve seconds.

   • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

     And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.

   • Happen definition

     To occur or take place. (1 of 4 happen definitions)

   • Take Place definition

     To happen or to occur. (1 of 4 take place definitions)
2. (intransitive) To present or offer itself.

   I will write if the opportunity occurs.

   • Present definition

     Relating to now, for the time being; current. (1 of 8 present definitions)

   • Offer definition

     A proposal that has been made. (1 of 3 offer definitions)
3. (impersonal) To come or be presented to the mind; to suggest itself.

   One little incident of my school days occurs to me as amusing.

   It occurred to him to tell me of the problem.

   • 1995, Theodore Kaczynski, Industrial Society and Its Future

     Apparently it never occurs to them that you can't make rapid, drastic changes in the technology and the economy of a society without causing rapid changes in all other aspects of the society as well, […]

   • Mind definition

     The ability of rational thought. (1 of 11 mind definitions)

   • Suggest definition

     To imply but stop short of explicitly stating (something). (1 of 4 suggest definitions)
4. (intransitive, sciences) To be present or found.

   The chemical monofluoroacetate occurs in all parts of Dichapetalum cymosum, and is responsible for its toxic effects.

   • Sciences definition

     plural of science

   • Found definition

     simple past tense and past participle of find

Synonyms

• (happen): belimp (obsolete), betide (obsolete), betime (obsolete), come to pass, happen, take place; See also Thesaurus:happen
• (present itself): appear, arise, come up
• (meet or come to the mind):
• (be present or found):

Related terms

• occurrent
• occurrence

Translations