occasionaladj.n.
/əˈkeɪʒn̩(ə)l/, /əˈkeɪʒən(ə)l/, U.S. /əˈkeɪʒən(ə)l/ A. adj.† 1. Imperfect, incomplete. Obsolete. rare.† 3. Happening or arising casually or incidentally; casual, incidental; accidental. Obsolete.
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the world > action or operation > completing > non-completion > [adjective]
incompletec1380
rudea1387
imperfecta1398
occasionala1398
unperfecta1398
unperfecteda1513
uncompleted1513
imperfected1552
unfinished1553
unconsummate1609
half-baked1627
illaborate1631
inconsummatea1641
uncrowned1743
stickit1784
unconsummated1813
incompleted1836
behindhand1853
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 293 Þe male mule..gendreþ som tyme..and þat but by happe, but what he gendreth is strange and occasyonal [L. occasionatum], as he þat is y-gendred bytwen an hors and an asse.
2. Happening as an occasion presents itself, but without certainty or regularity; taking place, occurring, or met with now and then; irregular and infrequent.
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a1475 [implied in: Bk. Quinte Essence (1889) 24 Men may die in iij maners..by naturel deeþ..bi violent deeþ, and also in þe iij maner occasionaly wiþinne þe teerme þat is sett of god, as þo men þat to myche replecioun or to greet abstynence..sle him silf. (at occasionally adv. 3)].
1684 T. Burnet Theory of Earth i. vii. 94 According to many occasional reflections..dispers'd in other places of Scripture, concerning the same Flood.
1791 E. Burke Corr. (1844) III. 365 Your mother is, bating occasional stiffness, very well.
1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. (at cited word) We make occasional remarks on the events of the age.
1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi v. 108 With the exception of an occasional leopard, there are no beasts of prey to disturb domestic animals.
1881 J. Russell Haigs of Bemersyde v. 105 An occasional raid upon his neighbour's moveables.
1932 E. Waugh Black Mischief viii. 311 The streets were empty save for an occasional muffled figure.
1988 Early Music 16 539 Occasional references to the Passions in his letters also point to a serious concern with the genre.
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the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adjective]
byc1050
casualc1374
fortuitc1374
fortunelc1374
fortunousc1374
causelessc1386
adventurousc1405
accidental1502
fortunable1509
happya1522
chanceable1549
occasional1569
accidentary1581
emergent1593
streave1598
contingent1604
happening1621
incidental1644
lucky1648
sporadical1654
temerarious1660
spontaneous1664
incidentarya1670
chance1676
antrin?1725
fortuitous1806
sporadic1821
windfall1845
chanced1853
blind1873
happenchance1905
happenstance1905
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 109 The stealyng of their Apples, and their other occasionall dammages.
1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. G. Bentivoglio Compl. Hist. Warrs Flanders 362 He said..that the tumults..might be caused by some occasional confusion.
1673 Morag Synod 156 Donald M'Ean..being guiltie of occasionall homicid could not come to publick repentance for hazard of his lyfe.
4.
a. Happening or operating on a particular occasion; limited to specific occasions; arising out of, required by, or made for, a particular occasion.
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the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adjective] > occasional
stoundmealc1400
otherwhile1589
occasional1611
sometimesa1945
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adjective] > occasional > produced or intended for a specific occasion
occasional1611
1611 W. Sclater Key to Key of Script. 143 Whoredome, or fornication..may thus be distinguished by degrees: It is eyther optatiue in the wish or desire of the heart, or occasionall; whither may be referred lasciuious thoughts, gestures, spectacles, speeches, [etc.].
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1959) IV. 349 For other Traditionall, and Conditionall, and Occasionall, and Collaterall, and Circumstantiall points..the true Church..had need of..a continuall assistance of the Spirit of God.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. ii. ii. 370 Gold and silver which he would otherwise have been obliged to keep by him for answering occasional demands. View more context for this quotation
1825 J. Bentham Rationale Reward 5 With regard to rewards, the most important division is into occasional and permanent.
1846 W. Maskell (title) Monumenta ritualia Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ, or occasional offices of the Church of England.
1910 Encycl. Brit. I. 207/2 In 1864 the constitution and procedure of prize courts, which had until then been prescribed by occasional acts passed for each war as it arose, were for the first time made permanent by the Naval Prize Act.
1988 R. P. Jhabvala Heat & Dust (BNC) In the case of an application by a licence-holder the occasional licence allows the sale of liquor ‘in the course of catering for an event taking place outwith the licenced premises’.
b. Of a person: acting or employed for a particular occasion or on an irregular basis.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to conditions > [adjective] > hired by the job
occasional1654
jobbing1705
1654 J. Chetwind Dead Speaking (title page) For the use chiefly of those Christians who were often occasional partakers of their labours.
1759 Ann. Reg. 1758 140 That the occasional proctors take all possible care that order..be observed.
1771 in Private Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 233 An occasional maid of Louisa's, who supplies the place of her own when she is absent with Gertrude.
a1859 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1861) V. xxiii. 14 The occasional soldier is no match for the professional soldier.
1897 Outing 30 227/1 The occasional sailor has no chance in the trophy races.
1966 New Statesman 11 Mar. 357/4 (advt.) Journalism: occasional freelancer..seeks full-time position.
1991 E. S. Connell Alchymist's Jrnl. (1992) 84 Have we not studied seventeen volumes on venesection by that occasional doctor of Padua, Horatius Augenius?
c. Of a speech, literary composition, religious service, etc.: produced on, or intended for, a special occasion. Of a speaker, writer, etc.: given to speaking, writing, etc., on or for special occasions.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > [adjective] > specific types of literature > occasional
occasional1687
fugitive1766
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [adjective] > written for specific occasion
occasional1687
occasionary1702
the world > time > frequency > infrequency > [adjective] > occasional > produced or intended for a specific occasion > of a speech, etc.
occasional1687
1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther ii. 51 Yet all those letters were not writ to all; Nor first intended, but occasional Their absent sermons.
1701 Acct. Life in T. Stanley Hist. Philos. (ed. 3) sig. a2v Their Doctrines, Letters, Occasional Speeches.
1779 S. Johnson Dryden in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets III. 199 In an occasional performance no height of excellence can be expected.
1829 H. C. Robinson Diary 13 Aug. (1967) 102 [Goethe] remarked..that occasional poems are among the best poems when the poet takes care to retain all the spirit of the occasion.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. x. 642 It..sustains, better perhaps than any occasional service which has been framed during two centuries, a comparison with..the Book of Common Prayer.
1883 Manch. Guard. 22 Oct. 5/4 Some of his verses are purely occasional and have no claim to stability.
1932 H. M. Chadwick & N. Kershaw Growth of Lit. I. 25 Both poems [sc. Deor and Widsith]..contain passages describing what purport to be personal experiences of the authors, and which—at least in the case of Deor—approximate to ‘occasional’ poetry.
1965 M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate i. 11 He..had before the war published a volume of his own occasional verses.
1976 S. Hynes Auden Generation v. 140 Lehmann's The Noise of History and Spender's Vienna..are occasional: like..‘Easter 1916’ and Auden's elegy on Yeats—they mythologize history.
1986 Early Music 14 429/1 Most of Ciconia's motets are either dedicatory or occasional pieces referring to Padua or Venice.
d. Of a piece of furniture, etc.: made or adapted for use on a particular or special occasion or as the occasion demands; made or adapted for irregular use. Frequently in occasional table.
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the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > [adjective] > for occasional use
occasional1749
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > suitability or appropriateness > [adjective] > suited for special occasions
occasional1749
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > [adjective] > types of furniture generally
standing1444
plush1615
Queen Elizabeth1673
occasional1749
Adametic1774
French-polished1836
upholstered1837
Adamish1838
Chippendale1855
Queen Anne1863
knock-down1875
Wellington chest1880
Adamesque1881
Sheraton1883
Hepplewhite1897
quaint1897
bombé1904
lowboy1915
Jacobean1918
overstuffed1922
spool1928
Williamsburg1931
thermed1952
stackable1958
Scandinavian1959
wall-to-wall1959
Populuxe1986
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure II. 91 Mrs. Cole had prepar'd my spark and me an occasional field-bed, to which we retired.
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 167 [We bored] a large hole in the side of our ship..for which we had an occasional plug prepared.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker III. 25 At night, half a dozen occasional beds are ranged..along the wall.
1813 Chron. in Ann. Reg. 51 The occasional saloon was singularly novel and beautiful.
1857 C. Dickens & W. Collins Lazy Tour i, in Househ. Words 3 Oct. 316/1 A little round occasional table in a window.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 21 June 7/1 The chair that the Queen sat in during the service was a Chippendale occasional Spanish mahogany chair.
1917 Harrod's Catal. 697 Music stools and occasional chairs.
1956 W. Golding Pincher Martin vii. 104 There were lace curtains..either side of the oak occasional table with its dusty fern.
2000 M. Barrowcliffe Girlfriend 44 iv. 125 I placed the beer on an occasional table.
5. Chiefly Philosophy. Constituting or serving as the occasion or incidental cause. Rarely with of. Frequently in occasional cause n. a secondary cause whereby or whereupon the primary or efficient cause comes into operation. [Occasional cause combines the meanings ‘operating on a particular occasion’ and ‘serving as an occasion or secondary cause’; compare occasionalism n. ( N.E.D., 1902). Compare post-classical Latin causa occasionaliter dicta (a1273 in Aquinas), causa occasionalis (1648 in the passage translated in quot. 1662), French cause occasionnelle (1674–5).]
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > causation > [adjective] > causing > occasioning
contributary1567
contributive1583
contributory1594
occasional1646
occasionative1655
occasionate1658
occasioning1817
the world > existence and causation > causation > [noun] > subsidiary or contributory cause
by-grounda1603
occasion1605
by-cause1631
generant1635
concurrency1636
under-cause1645
causa causata1659
concurrent1667
occasional cause1728
condition1817
factor1851
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > philosophy of mind-body interrelation > [adjective] > Cartesian
Cartesian1656
occasional1854
occasionalistic1884
occasionalist1891
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. viii. 122 The ground or occasional original hereof.
1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Oriatrike 119 Second, partaking causes, also free mediating con-causes, and occasionall ones accompanying them: over all which..God is..the totall, immediate, and independent cause.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Cause The Motions..of the Soul and Body, are only Occasional Causes of what passes in the one or the other.
1854 J. F. Ferrier Inst. Metaphysic 476 The Cartesian doctrine of occasional, as distinguished from efficient causes.
1892 Daily News 24 Mar. 5/7 The ‘occasional’ question—using the adjective in the metaphysical sense—is a question about wages.
1976 A. R. Lacey Dict. Philos. 146 Apparent causes are what God uses as occasions (hence called occasional causes) for creating their apparent effects.
B. n.† 1. An occasional speech, writing, ritual, etc. Chiefly in plural. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > a speech > speeches
elocution1593
occasional1649
society > leisure > the arts > literature > [noun] > specific types of literature > occasional
occasional1649
1649 Moderate No. 49. 568 A Treatise published this week, called A Religious Scrutiny, wherein the Nullity of Protestants marriage with Papists,..and the alternation of the set monethly Fasts, into occasionals, are discussed by a Presbyterian Minister.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. xi. 220 Hereat Mr Dod..fell into a pertinent and seasonable discourse (as more better at occasionals).
1656 R. Vines Treat. Inst. Lords-Supper i. 21 There were in the first Passover..certain rituals or occasionals.
1682 Ld. North (title) Light in the way to paradise, with other occasionals.
2. An occasional worker, visitor, etc. Cf. casual n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to conditions > [noun] > casual or temporary worker
temporary1846
casual1851
occasional1867
migrant labourer1899
floater1909
guest worker1927
temp1932
gig worker2009
1867 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. to Publishers (1967) 13 I am on the N.Y. Tribune staff here as an ‘occasional’, among other things.
1892 Pall Mall Gaz. 6 Apr. 2/2 There is no way of meeting both cases at once except by discriminating between the regulars and the occasionals.
1908 Westm. Gaz. 10 Dec. 6/1 (heading) Oxford University v. Oxford Occasionals.
1977 ‘J. le Carré’ Honourable Schoolboy v. 112 He never got round to blowing [i.e. betraying] the Occasionals..the Occasionals were filed..in a separate archive.
1994 Daily Tel. 3 Aug. 19/4 More than 1,000 regular drug dealers and almost 13,000 occasionals were counted.
Compounds
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1705 Char. of Smoker in Harl. Misc. (1808) XI. 30 He..makes an interest against the Occasional bill, because he is a sort of an occasionalist himself.
occasional cause n. see sense A. 5.
occasional conformist n. now historical a practitioner of occasional conformity.
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1710 W. L. Let. to New Member Commons 24 Our Occasional Conformists, if not well look'd after, will swallow up our Government by this cunning Hypocrisie.
1900 Dict. National Biogr. LXIII. 42/2 His father, who was an occasional conformist, though at heart a firm catholic, sent him about 1566 to Brasenose College, Oxford.
occasional conformity n. historical in later use the receiving of Holy Communion in the Church of England solely for the sake of conformity, esp. by a practising Nonconformist in order to qualify for an official position in accordance with the Corporation and Test Acts (a bill against this, introduced in 1703, was passed in 1711).
ΚΠ
1697 D. Defoe (title) An enquiry into the occasional conformity of Dissenters, in cases of preferment.
1703 H. Mackworth (title) Peace at home; or a vindication of the proceedings of the House of Commons, on a bill for preventing danger from occasional conformity.
1890 Dict. National Biogr. XXII. 417/2 Grascome spent the last twenty years of his life in theological controversy, defending the nonjurors, and denouncing dissent, occasional conformity, and the Church of Rome.
Derivatives
oˈccasionalness n.
ΚΠ
1727 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. II Occasionalness.
1970 Harvard Jrnl. Asiatic Stud. 30 75 The texts specify limits and, together with tax terminology.., occasionalness.
1995 Jrnl. Higher Educ. 66 48 The occasionalness of such binges produces less quantity and quality of work in the long run (compared to brief, regular sessions).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.a1398