occupy
Definitions
To fill or take up space, time, or attention
占据，占用（空间、时间或注意力）
To live in or use a place
居住于；使用（某地）
To take control of a place or country by military force
（以武力）占领
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedoc- (a form of ob-, 'over, against') + cup- (a worn-down form of capere, 'to seize, take hold') = 'to seize and hold against' — to grab a place and keep it. From Latin occupāre. The cup- spelling looks unrelated to cap-, but it is the same root softened over time. Whether you occupy a chair, an hour, or a country, you are taking and holding it.
Root cap still carries 163 more wordsWhy It Means This
Occupy hides the cap- root under the spelling 'cup' (from Latin occupāre). The core image is seizing and holding: you physically take a space and keep others out of it. That single idea fans out into all its modern senses — occupy a seat (take the space), occupy your time (fill it), occupy a country (hold it by force). They are all the same act of 'taking and keeping.'
Common Collocations
- 1.occupy a position占据一个职位
- 2.occupy space占用空间
- 3.occupy time占用时间
- 4.occupy a country占领一个国家
Example Sentences
- 1.
Those boxes occupy half the garage.
- 2.
The children's hobbies occupy most of her weekends.
- 3.
Foreign troops occupied the city for two years.