Occupied

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɒkjʊpaɪd/

Definitions

1. Being filled with people or things while being engaged in an activity or task that renders one unavailable, thus possessing control over a certain area or resource for a designated aim
2. Being in a state where something is actively in use or inhabited; being involved in a task that prevents attention from other matters, thereby asserting control over a location or resource; maintaining possession or usage of an area designated for a particular function
3. Having people or objects present in a space or place; involved in an action that limits availability; having control over an area or item

Etymology: Latin "occupāre" was built from "ob", meaning "to" or "on", and "capere", meaning "to take", so its core picture is of grabbing hold of something. English borrowed the verb through Old French in the Middle English period, and the earliest English senses were about seizing a place by force or taking up a space, which is why a conquered territory and a settled apartment share the same vocabulary. The adjective "occupied" shows the same logic in a quieter form. A toilet or room is "occupied" when someone has taken possession of it, and a busy person is "occupied" when their attention has been seized by a task. The word thus moved from the physical act of taking a place to the mental state of being absorbed. Medieval English also had "occupate", a doublet from the same Latin verb, which fell out of use and left "occupy" as the survivor.

Synonyms: engaged, busy, filled, in use, taken

Antonyms: vacant, empty, available, unoccupied