Occupate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To take control of or settle in a place, especially by military force or legal claim
2. To seize and hold possession of territory or a location through active occupation
3. To inhabit or establish control over a space by taking up residence or garrison there

Etymology: "Occupate" is an English adjective that entered the language in 1547, borrowed directly from the Latin "occupātus," the past participle of "occupō," meaning "to seize" or "to take possession of." The Latin verb is itself built from "ob," meaning "against" or "toward," and "capere," meaning "to take," so its underlying sense is "to take hold of" something in front of you. English already had the verb "occupy," which came through Old French, so "occupate" is a doublet of it: two words sharing a single origin but arriving by different routes. The Latin participle gave English the form "occupate," while the French-influenced path produced "occupy," which kept the sense of seizing or holding land and time, and later the sense of filling a place or taking up one's attention. "Occupate" stayed closer to the Latin participle and its adjectival sense of being held or taken.