occur

English

WOTD – 5 August 2008

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)

(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.
(intransitive) To present or offer itself.
I will write if the opportunity occurs.
(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, […]
(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 (waqaʿa), طَرَأَ‎ (ar) (ṭaraʾa)
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 (zh), 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 (ku) (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)