Occasional

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /əˈkeɪʒ(ə)nəl/

Definitions

1. Happening or appearing from time to time, but not regularly or frequently
2. Taking place now and then without a fixed schedule or routine
3. Happening at irregular intervals, not common or continual

Etymology: The adjective "occasional" descends from "occasion," which came into English from Latin "occasio," meaning a falling out, a chance or an opportune moment, built from "ob" (toward) and "cadere" (to fall), so the root sense is something that comes to meet you. The adjective itself arrived in Middle English as "occasyonal," borrowed from Medieval Latin "occasionalis" and also shaped by Old French "ocasionel." Its core meaning followed the noun's sense of an occurrence that happens at a particular juncture, so something occasional is one that turns up at irregular intervals rather than constantly. Because "occasion" is a noun, the adjective is simply a noun plus the suffix "-al," which turns a noun into a related adjective, as in "seasonal" or "national." Medieval scribes spelled the word in many variant forms before the modern spelling settled, so the familiar form is itself a product of centuries of adjustment.

Synonyms: intermittent, sporadic, periodic, infrequent, random

Antonyms: constant, regular, frequent, continuous, steady