Occamy to Ocean
Occamy
(Oc"ca*my) n. [A corruption of alchemy.] An alloy imitating gold or silver. [Written also ochimy,
ochymy, etc.]
Occasion
(Oc*ca"sion) n. [F. occasion, L. occasio, fr. occidere, occasum, to fall down; ob (see Ob-
) + cadere to fall. See Chance, and cf. Occident.]
1. A falling out, happening, or coming to pass; hence, that which falls out or happens; occurrence; incident.
The unlooked-for incidents of family history, and its hidden excitements, and its arduous occasions.
I.
Taylor. 2. A favorable opportunity; a convenient or timely chance; convenience.
Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me.
Rom. vii. 11.
I'll take the occasion which he gives to bring
Him to his death.
Waller. 3. An occurrence or condition of affairs which brings with it some unlooked-for event; that which incidentally
brings to pass an event, without being its efficient cause or sufficient reason; accidental or incidental
cause.
Her beauty was the occasion of the war.
Dryden. 4. Need; exigency; requirement; necessity; as, I have no occasion for firearms.
After we have served ourselves and our own occasions.
Jer. Taylor.
When my occasions took me into France.
Burke. 5. A reason or excuse; a motive; a persuasion.
Whose manner was, all passengers to stay,
And entertain with her occasions sly.
Spenser. On occasion, in case of need; in necessity; as convenience requires; occasionally. "That we might have
intelligence from him on occasion," De Foe.
Syn. — Need; incident; use. See Opportunity.
Occasion
(Oc*ca"sion) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Occasioned (- zhund); p. pr. & vb. n. Occasioning.] [Cf.F.
occasionner.] To give occasion to; to cause; to produce; to induce; as, to occasion anxiety. South.
If we inquire what it is that occasions men to make several combinations of simple ideas into distinct
modes.
Locke. Occasionable
(Oc*ca"sion*a*ble) a. Capable of being occasioned or caused. Barrow.
Occasional
(Oc*ca"sion*al) a. [Cf.F. occasionnel.]
1. Of or pertaining to an occasion or to occasions; occuring at times, but not constant, regular, or systematic; made
or happening as opportunity requires or admits; casual; incidental; as, occasional remarks, or efforts.
The . . . occasional writing of the present times.
Bagehot. 2. Produced by accident; as, the occasional origin of a thing. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.
