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Definition of occupation noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

occupation

noun
 OPAL W
 
/ˌɒkjuˈpeɪʃn/
 
/ˌɑːkjuˈpeɪʃn/
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  1.  
    [countable] a job or profession
    • Please state your name, age and occupation below.
    Synonyms workworkemployment ▪ career ▪ profession ▪ occupation ▪ tradeThese are all words for the jobs that somebody does in return for payment, especially over a long period of time. work the job that somebody does, especially in order to earn money:
    • It’s very difficult to find work at the moment.
    employment (rather formal) work, especially when it is done to earn money; the state of being employed or the situation in which people have work:
    • Only half the people here are in paid employment.
    career the job or series of jobs that somebody has in a particular area of work, usually involving more responsibility as time passes:
    • He had a very distinguished career in the Foreign Office.
    profession a type of job that needs special training or skill, especially one that needs a high level of education:
    • He hopes to enter the medical profession.
    The profession is all the people who work in a particular profession: the legal profession. The professions are the traditional jobs that need a high level of education and training, such as being a doctor or lawyer.    occupation (rather formal) a job or profession:
    • Please state your name, age, and occupation.
    trade a job, especially one that involves working with your hands and requires special training and skills:
    • Carpentry is a highly skilled trade.
    Patterns
    • in/​out of work/​employment
    • (a) full-time/​part-time work/​employment/​career/​occupation
    • permanent/​temporary work/​employment
    • (a) well-paid work/​employment/​profession/​occupation
    • (a) low-paid work/​employment/​occupation
    • to look for/​seek/​find work/​employment/​a career/​an occupation
    • to get/​obtain/​give somebody/​offer somebody/​create/​generate/​provide work/​employment
    Extra Examples
    • He gave up his occupation as a farmer and became a teacher.
    • He left the army in 2020 and chose a civilian occupation.
    • Her occupation is listed as editor.
    • The college provides training in a wide range of occupations.
    • The people interviewed followed a variety of occupations
    • service occupations such as cleaning and catering
    • Is your occupation full-time or part-time?
    • It's harder to lose weight when you have a sedentary occupation.
    • Why is nursing still seen as a female occupation?
    Topics Jobsb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • full-time
    • current
    • main
    • …
    verb + occupation
    • choose
    • find
    • follow
    • …
    phrases
    • list somebody’s occupation as something
    • a range of occupations
    See full entry
  2.  
    [countable] the way in which you spend your time, especially when you are not working
    • Her main occupation seems to be shopping.
  3.  
    [uncountable] the act of moving into a country, town, etc. and taking control of it using military force; the period of time during which a country, town, etc. is controlled in this way
    • the Roman occupation of Britain
    • under occupation The zones under occupation contained major industrial areas.
    • occupation forces
    Extra Examples
    • During the occupation, the church was used as a mosque.
    • The invaders have ended their occupation of large parts of the territories.
    • It is the duty of the occupation force to maintain civil order.
    • The military occupation has created anger and resentment.
    Topics War and conflictc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • foreign
    • continued
    • continuing
    • …
    verb + occupation
    • begin
    • end
    • maintain
    • …
    occupation + verb
    • begin
    • end
    • continue
    • …
    occupation + noun
    • force
    preposition
    • during the occupation
    • under occupation
    • occupation of
    • …
    See full entry
  4.  
    [uncountable] (formal) the act of living in or using a building, room, piece of land, etc.
    • The offices will be ready for occupation in June.
    • in occupation The following applies only to tenants in occupation after January 1 this year.
    • The level of owner occupation (= people owning their homes) has increased rapidly in the last 30 years.
    Extra Examples
    • He intends to remain in occupation of the building for as long as possible.
    • The houses were judged to be unfit for human occupation.
    • You can only take up occupation once the tenancy has been signed.
    • illegal occupation of the building
    • the conversion of big old buildings to multiple occupation
    Topics Houses and homesc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • land
    • illegal
    • unlawful
    • …
    verb + occupation
    • take up
    preposition
    • in occupation of
    phrases
    • ready for occupation
    See full entry
    5. Word OriginMiddle English: via Old French from Latin occupatio(n-), from the verb occupare ‘seize’. Sense (3) dates from the mid 16th cent.
See occupation in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee occupation in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: occupation

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