pièce d'occasion

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French pièce d’occasion.

Noun

pièce d'occasion (plural pièces d'occasion)

1. An artistic composition written for a particular occasion.
   • 1999 March 28, Phillip French, The Guardian:

     Terence Rattigan’s brittle bitter-sweet comedy The Sleeping Prince (written as a pièce d’occasion for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation) centres on the romance between an American actress (Marilyn Monroe) and a lecherous Balkan guest at the 1911 coronation of George V.

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 246:

     In 1756, arch-Jansenist publicist Le Paige produced, under cover of anonymity, a pièce d'occasion, the Lettres sur les lits de justice, which argued, on the basis of impressive antiquarian research, that the ceremony was in fact heir to ancient Frankish assemblies [...].