occur

English

WOTD – 5 August 2008

Alternative forms

• occurre (obsolete)

Etymology

Originally "meet, meet in argument", borrowed from Middle French occurrer, from Latin occurrō (“run to meet, run against, befall, present itself”) from prefix ob- (“against”) + verb currō (“run, hurry, move”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈkɜː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈkɝ/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

Verb

occur (third-person singular simple present occurs, present participle occurring, simple past and past participle occurred)

1. (intransitive) To happen or take place.

   The liftoff will occur in exactly twelve seconds.

   • 1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax:

     And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.

2. (intransitive) To present or offer itself.

   I will write if the opportunity occurs.

3. (impersonal) To come or be presented to the mind; to suggest itself.

   One little incident of my school days occurs to me as amusing.

   It occurred to him to tell me of the problem.

   • 1995, Theodore Kaczynski, Industrial Society and Its Future:

     Apparently it never occurs to them that you can't make rapid, drastic changes in the technology and the economy of a society without causing rapid changes in all other aspects of the society as well, […]

4. (intransitive, sciences) To be present or found.

   The chemical monofluoroacetate occurs in all parts of Dichapetalum cymosum, and is responsible for its toxic effects.

Synonyms

• (happen): belimp (obsolete), betide (obsolete), betime (obsolete), come to pass, happen, take place; See also Thesaurus:happen
• (present itself): appear, arise, come up
• (meet or come to the mind):
• (be present or found):

Related terms

• occurrent
• occurrence

Translations

take place

• Albanian: ndodh (sq)
• Arabic: حَدَثَ‎ (ar) (ḥadaṯa), وَقَعَ‎ (waqaʕa), طَرَأَ‎ (ar) (ṭaraʔa)

  Moroccan Arabic: طرا‎ (ṭra), جرى‎ (jra), وقع‎ (wqaʕ)

• Armenian: պատահել (hy) (patahel)
• Azerbaijani: vaqe olmaq
• Bashkir: булыу (bulıw)
• Basque: bururatu
• Belarusian: здара́цца impf (zdarácca), зда́рыцца pf (zdárycca), адбыва́цца impf (adbyvácca), адбы́цца pf (adbýcca), трапля́цца impf (trapljácca), тра́піцца pf (trápicca)
• Bulgarian: слу́чвам се (bg) impf (slúčvam se), слу́ча се (bg) pf (slúča se)
• Catalan: ocórrer (ca)
• Cherokee: ᏂᎦᎵᏍᏗᎭ (nigalisdiha)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 發生／发生 (faat³ sang¹)

  Mandarin: 發生／发生 (zh) (fāshēng)

• Czech: nastat (cs) pf, udát se pf, stát se (cs) pf, odehrát se, dít se (cs)
• Dutch: plaatsvinden (nl)
• Finnish: tapahtua (fi)
• French: se produire (fr), avoir lieu (fr)
• Galician: ocorrer (gl)
• Georgian: მოხდომა (moxdoma)
• German: passieren (de), vorkommen (de), stattfinden (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: τυγχάνω (tunkhánō), συμφέρω (sumphérō)

• Hindi: बीतना (hi) (bītnā)
• Italian: verificarsi (it)
• Japanese: 起こる (ja) (おこる, okoru), 起る (ja) (おこる, okoru)
• Khmer: កើតឡើង (km) (kaət laəng), កើត (km) (kaət)
• Korean: 일어나다 (ko) (ireonada), 발생하다 (ko) (balsaenghada)
• Lao: ເກີດ (lo) (kœ̄t), ບັງເກີດ (bang kœ̄t), ເປັນ (pen)
• Latin: eveniō (la), accidō (la), incidō, cadō (la), subeō
• Macedonian: се случува impf (se slučuva), се случи pf (se sluči)
• Maori: tū
• Middle English: spryngen
• Mongolian: болох (mn) (bolox)
• Ngazidja Comorian: udjiri
• Norwegian: skje (no)

  Bokmål: forekomme (no)

• Old English: ġeweorþan
• Polish: zdarzać się (pl) impf, zdarzyć się (pl) pf, wydarzać się (pl) impf, wydarzyć się (pl) pf, dziać się (pl), stać się (pl) impf, trafiać się (pl) impf, trafić się (pl) pf
• Portuguese: ocorrer (pt), acontecer (pt)
• Russian: происходи́ть (ru) impf (proisxodítʹ), произойти́ (ru) pf (proizojtí); случа́ться (ru) impf (slučátʹsja), случи́ться (ru) pf (slučítʹsja)
• Scottish Gaelic: tachair
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: догодити се pf

  Roman: dogoditi se (sh) pf

• Slovak: stať sa pf, udiať sa pf, nastať pf
• Slovene: zgodíti se pf
• Spanish: ocurrir (es), acaecer (es)
• Swedish: hända (sv), ske (sv), äga rum (sv)
• Thai: เกิด (th) (gə̀ət)
• Tibetan: བྱུང (byung)
• Turkish: olmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: става́тися impf (stavátysja), ста́тися pf (státysja), трапля́тися impf (trapljátysja), тра́питися pf (trápytysja), відбува́тися impf (vidbuvátysja), відбу́тися pf (vidbútysja), чини́тися impf (čynýtysja), учини́тися pf (učynýtysja), зчини́тися pf (zčynýtysja), роби́тися impf (robýtysja), зроби́тися pf (zrobýtysja)
• Urdu: بیتنا‎ (bītnā)
• Vietnamese: xảy ra (vi)
• Walloon: ariver (wa), sorvini (wa)

present itself

• Czech: vyskytnout se, naskytnout se
• Dutch: zich (nl) aanbieden (nl), zich (nl) voordoen (nl), plaatsvinden (nl), voorkomen (nl), gebeuren (nl)
• Estonian: tekkima
• Finnish: tarjoutua (fi) (present itself), sattua (fi), tapahtua (fi) (to happen)
• French: arriver (fr), se présenter (fr), se produire (fr), se passer (fr), avoir lieu (fr)
• German: vorkommen (de), passieren (de)
• Ido: eventar (io)
• Japanese: ある (ja) (aru)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ڕێکەوتن‎ (rêkewtin), ڕوودان‎ (ckb) (rûdan)

• Latin: evenio (la), supervenio
• Macedonian: се појавува (se pojavuva)
• Norwegian: inntreffe
• Portuguese: ocorrer (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: tachair
• Spanish: presentar (es) (pronominal)
• Swedish: inträffa (sv)
• Turkish: olmak (tr)
• Walloon: ariver (wa), sorvini (wa)

meet or come to the mind

• Bulgarian: хру́мне (bg) pf (hrúmne), до́йде на ум (dójde na um)
• Czech: napadnout (cs)
• Dutch: invallen (nl), opkomen (nl), verschijnen (nl)
• Estonian: meenuma
• Finnish: juolahtaa mieleen, tulla mieleen (fi)
• French: venir à l'idée (de quelqu'un)
• German: einfallen (de), in den Sinn kommen
• Greek: περνώ (el) (pernó)
• Hungarian: eszébe jut (hu)
• Italian: sovvenire (it), venire in mente
• Japanese: 思い浮かぶ (omoiukabu)
• Latin: evenio (la), occurro
• Luxembourgish: afalen
• Macedonian: текнува (teknuva)
• Maori: wheriko, ohia
• Old English: on mōd berinnan
• Polish: napaść (pl) pf
• Portuguese: ocorrer (pt)
• Romanian: trece (ro)
• Russian: приходи́ть в голову (ru) (prixodítʹ v golovu)
• Scottish Gaelic: buail an ceann, buail air
• Serbo-Croatian: pasti na pamet
• Slovene: napadnúť impf
• Spanish: ocurrir (es), (Chile, informal) tincar (es)
• Turkish: aklına gelmek (tr), hatırlamak (tr)
• Ukrainian: приходити в голову (pryxodyty v holovu), спадати на думку (spadaty na dumku)
• Walloon: aspiter (wa) (a l' idêye)

be present or found

• Bulgarian: срещам се (sreštam se), намирам се (namiram se)
• Danish: forekomme
• Dutch: voorkomen (nl)
• Estonian: esinema
• Finnish: esiintyä (fi)
• French: se retrouver (fr)
• German: vorkommen (de)
• Hungarian: előfordul (hu), megtalálható
• Japanese: ある (ja) (aru)
• Latin: evenio (la)
• Macedonian: се јавува (se javuva), се среќава (se sreḱava)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forekomme (no)

• Polish: występować (pl)
• Portuguese: ocorrer (pt), encontrar-se (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: tachair
• Swedish: förekomma (sv)
• Turkish: (bir yerde) hazır olmak (tr)
• Walloon: si trover (wa)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Telugu: ^{(please verify)} అవసరం కలుగు (te) (avasaraṁ kalugu), ^{(please verify)} అవసరం ఏర్పడు (te) (avasaraṁ ērpaḍu), ^{(please verify)} ఘటించు (te) (ghaṭiñcu)