Meaning of occasion in English

occasion

noun [ C ]
uk ​ /əˈkeɪ.ʒən/ us ​ /əˈkeɪ.ʒən/

B2 a particular time, especially when something happens or has happened:

We met on several occasions to discuss the issue.
I've heard him be rude to her on a number of occasions.
I seem to remember that on that occasion he was with his wife.

B1 a special or formal event:

Sara's party was quite an occasion - there were over a hundred people there.
At the wedding he sang a song specially written for the occasion.
I have a suit but I only wear it on special occasions.
The coronation of a new king is, of course, a historic occasion.
Congratulations on the occasion of your wedding anniversary.

› formal an opportunity or reason for doing something or for something to happen:

The 200th anniversary of Mozart's death was the occasion for hundreds of special films, books and concerts.
An occasion may arise when you can use your knowledge of French.
The bride took/used the occasion to make a short speech.
on occasion

C2 sometimes, but not often:

He has, on occasion, made a small mistake.

More examples

Thesaurus: synonyms and related words

Idiom

have occasion to do sth

occasion

verb [ T ]
formal uk ​ /əˈkeɪ.ʒən/ us ​ /əˈkeɪ.ʒən/

(Definition of “occasion” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

"occasion" in American English

occasionnoun
us ​ /əˈkeɪ·ʒən/

occasion noun (PARTICULAR TIME)

› [ C ] a particular time when something happens:

Sarah loves dressing up for special occasions.
She has lied on several occasions.
This meeting provides an occasion (= a suitable time) to discuss the issues facing our school.

occasion noun (REASON)

› [ U ] a reason or cause:

I’ve never had occasion to worry about my children’s school work.

Idiom

on occasion

(Definition of “occasion” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of “occasion”

These examples are from the Cambridge English Corpus and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Instead, they appeared on occasion to recompute the phonetic elements, producing a new erroneous version.
From Cambridge English Corpus
During the entire post-war period there are only five occasions (1950, 1951, 1955, 1964 and 1997) in which the parties leapfrog each other.
From Cambridge English Corpus
The occasion marked the official return to the past.
From Cambridge English Corpus
On both occasions, seeds were collected from a minimum of 25 trees.
From Cambridge English Corpus
Trapping was undertaken for three consecutive nights on each occasion.
From Cambridge English Corpus
It is bewildering to observe the same individual treating certain persons or groups altruistically on one occasion, but indifferently on another.
From Cambridge English Corpus
On both occasions, multimorbidity (presence of more than one condition) accounted for a quarter of the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity.
From Cambridge English Corpus
A social scientist who makes generalized claims is more likely to be prepared to advise on any occasion.
From Cambridge English Corpus
Significant differences were seen between the study and control groups in the social domain on the second and third occasions.
From Cambridge English Corpus
On the rare occasions where we present definitions out of sequence, we will explain what we are doing.
From Cambridge English Corpus
As demonstrated in the example, any festival, whatever its proclaimed and ostensible focus and aims, is clearly and inevitably a complex occasion.
From Cambridge English Corpus
The series was a blend of traditional studio scenes and location filming, which was no longer a luxury for special occasions.
From Cambridge English Corpus
Furthermore, these models were used to systematically test the significance of occasion-, informant-, and trait-specific effects.
From Cambridge English Corpus
On many occasions attempts have been made to explain differences in fertility levels between different populations in terms of different breastfeeding practices.
From Cambridge English Corpus
The use of contraceptives was common on the first occasion of intercourse with nearly half of the women relying on the sheath.
From Cambridge English Corpus

Collocations with “occasion”

These are words often used in combination with occasion. Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

These examples are from the Cambridge English Corpus and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

appropriate occasion
I shall be only too glad to debate these methods with him on a more appropriate occasion.
From the
Hansard archive
 
ceremonial occasion
Such action as that on such occasions or on any ceremonial occasion when large crowds gather would help greatly.
From the
Hansard archive
 
different occasion
In view of the shortage of time perhaps we can follow this up on a different occasion.
From the
Hansard archive
 

 See all collocations with occasion

Translations of “occasion”

 
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