Occupies

How to spell occupies

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce occupies

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does occupies mean?

1. verbFills or takes up a space, amount of time, or position; lives in or holds a place.

Occupies in a sentence

• The new sofa occupies most of the living room.

• Paperwork occupies a large part of her working day.

Where does occupies come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the third person singular form of 'occupy', which English took from the Old French 'occuper' in the 1300s, itself drawn from the Latin verb 'occupare', meaning 'to seize', 'to take possession of', or 'to fill up'. That Latin verb was built from the prefix 'ob-', here suggesting 'over' or 'towards', and the verb 'capere', meaning 'to take' or 'to grasp', so the literal sense was something close to 'to take hold of'. The same 'capere' root sits behind a whole family of English words, including 'capture', 'capable', and 'recipe', all of which involve some idea of taking or holding. Over time the meaning broadened from physically seizing land to filling space, holding a job or position, and keeping someone busy. The double 'c' is the spelling trap, and it survives directly from the Latin doubling created when 'ob-' assimilated against the 'c' of 'capere'.

How the word is built

• oc- (from Latin ob-: over, towards)
• cup (from capere: to take, seize)
• -ies (third person singular present, with y changed to ies)