occur

occur
\ \ [16] Etymologically, occur means ‘run towards’. It was borrowed from Latin occurrere, a compound verb formed from the prefix ob- ‘towards’ and currererun’ (source of English course, current, etc). This had the sense ‘run to meet’, hence simply ‘meet’, which survived into English: ‘The whole multitude might freely move … with very little occurring or interfering’, Richard Bentley, Boyle Lectures 1692. But ‘meeting’ also passed into ‘presenting itself’, ‘appearing’, and hence ‘happening’ – from which the main present-day meaning of English occur comes.
\ \ Cf.COURSE, CURRENT

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР
Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Occur — Oc*cur , v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Occurred}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Occurring}.] [L. occurrere, occursum; ob (see {Ob }) + currere to run. See {Course}.] 1. To meet; to clash. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] The resistance of the bodies they occur with. Bentley.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • occur to — (you) to come into your mind. Did it occur to you to call my apartment to see if I was there? It never occurred to me to ask where she d been. Usage notes: often used in the form not occur to you: It hadn t occurred to her that she would be… …   New idioms dictionary

  • occur — I (come to mind) verb be uppermost in the mind, become aware, become visible, come into view, conjure up, crop up, cross ones mind, emerge, enter the mind, enter the picture, manifest itself, pass in the mind, present itself, present itself to… …   Law dictionary

  • occur — [v1] take place, happen action, appear, arise, befall, be found, be present, betide, chance, come about, come off*, come to pass, cook*, crop up, develop, ensue, eventualize, eventuate, exist, follow, go, jell*, manifest, materialize, obtain,… …   New thesaurus

  • occur — ► VERB (occurred, occurring) 1) happen; take place. 2) exist or be found to be present. 3) (occur to) come into the mind of. ORIGIN Latin occurrere go to meet, present itself …   English terms dictionary

  • occur — [ə kʉr′] vi. occurred, occurring [L occurrere, to run, come up to, meet < ob (see OB ) + currere, to run: see CURRENT] 1. to be found; exist [fish occur in most waters] 2. to present itself; come to mind [an idea occurred to him] …   English World dictionary

  • occur — (v.) 1520s, meet, meet in argument, from M.Fr. occurrer or directly from L. occurrere run to meet, run against, befall, present itself, from ob against, toward (see OB (Cf. ob )) + currere to run (see CURRENT (Cf. current)). Sense development is… …   Etymology dictionary

  • occur — *happen, chance, befall, betide, transpire Analogous words: rise, arise, *spring, emanate, issue, proceed: *follow, succeed, ensue, supervene …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • occur — has inflected forms occurred, occurring, and the noun derivative is occurrence (with two rs, often misspelt) …   Modern English usage

  • occur */*/*/ — UK [əˈkɜː(r)] / US [əˈkɜr] verb [intransitive] Word forms occur : present tense I/you/we/they occur he/she/it occurs present participle occurring past tense occurred past participle occurred Get it right: occur: Don t write the ed and ing forms… …   English dictionary

  • occur — verb occurred, occurring (I) formal 1 to happen: Many accidents occur in the home. | Climatic changes have occurred at intervals throughout the millennium. 2 (always + adv/prep) to happen or exist in a particular place or situation (+ in/among… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”