occur

• occurre (obsolete)

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”).

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

• Audio (General American):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)

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.

• (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):

• occurrent
• occurrence