Occasioned

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /əˈkeɪʒənd/

Definitions

1. Brought about or caused a particular event or situation to happen
2. Produced an effect or outcome by triggering a specific circumstance
3. Led to or was the reason for something occurring or taking place

Etymology: The verb "occasioned" is simply the past tense of "occasion," so its story is really the story of the noun. That noun reaches back to Latin "occāsiō," formed from "occidere," meaning "to fall down, to fall away," built from "ob-" ("down, away") and "cadere" ("to fall"). The sense was literally a falling-toward or a setting-in-the-way-of something: an opportunity that comes down upon you at the right moment. The word passed into English through Old French "occasion" and Middle French "occasion," arriving in Middle English as "occasioun." Along the way the image of something falling into place shifted into the idea of a convenient moment, and then into the sense of a cause that brings something about. That is the step that gives the verb its meaning: to occasion something is to be the thing that sets an outcome in motion.

Synonyms: caused, brought about, provoked

Antonyms: prevented, stopped, hindered