Where does “occasion” come from?
occasion (Middle French) comes from Old French occasiun, from Latin occasio, from Latin occasus, from Latin occidō, from Latin ob-, from Latin obolus, from Ancient Greek ὀβολός, from Ancient Greek ὀβελός — to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing.
Ancestry of “occasion”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | occasiun | — |
| 2 | Latin | occasio | occasion, opportunity; kairos, the right time,... |
| 3 | Latin | occasus | setting; west; western |
| 4 | Latin | occidō | — |
| 5 | Latin | ob- | towards; against |
| 6 | Latin | obolus | obolus |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | ὀβολός | obol, obolus, used at Athens as both a weight and... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | ὀβελός | a spit, rod; a horizontal line |
| 9 | Ancient Greek | βέλος | missile, arrow, dart; weapon; something quickly... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷélHos | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷelH- | to throw, reach, pierce; to hit by throwing |
Words derived from “occasion”