n. [ F. occasion, L. occasio, fr. occidere, occasum, to fall down; ob (see Ob-) + cadere to fall. See Chance, and cf. Occident. ] 1. A falling out, happening, or coming to pass; hence, that which falls out or happens; occurrence; incident; event. [ 1913 Webster ]

The unlooked-for incidents of family history, and its hidden excitements, and its arduous occasions. I. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A favorable opportunity; a convenient or timely chance; convenience. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me. Rom. vii. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

I'll take the occasion which he gives to bring
Him to his death. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An occurrence or condition of affairs which brings with it some unlooked-for event; that which incidentally brings to pass an event, without being its efficient cause or sufficient reason; accidental or incidental cause. [ 1913 Webster ]

Her beauty was the occasion of the war. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Need; exigency; requirement; necessity; as, I have no occasion for firearms. [ 1913 Webster ]

After we have served ourselves and our own occasions. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

When my occasions took me into France. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A reason or excuse; a motive; a persuasion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whose manner was, all passengers to stay,
And entertain with her occasions sly. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

On occasion, (a) in case of need; in necessity; as convenience requires. “That we might have intelligence from him on occasion, ” De Foe. -- (b) occasionally; from time to time; now and then. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Syn. -- Need; incident; use. See Opportunity. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Occasioned p. pr. & vb. n. Occasioning. ] [ Cf. F. occasionner. ] To give occasion to; to cause; to produce; to induce; as, to occasion anxiety. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

If we inquire what it is that occasions men to make several combinations of simple ideas into distinct modes. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being occasioned or caused. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. occasionnel. ] 1. Occuring at times, but not constant, regular, or systematic; made or happening as opportunity requires or admits; casual; incidental; as, occasional remarks, or efforts. [ 1913 Webster ]

The . . . occasional writing of the present times. Bagehot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Produced by accident; as, the occasional origin of a thing. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Of or pertaining to an occasion or to occasions; intended for a specific occasion; for use only when needed, and not regularly. [ PJC ]

Occasional cause (Metaph.), some circumstance preceding an effect which, without being the real cause, becomes the occasion of the action of the efficient cause; thus, the act of touching gunpowder with fire is the occasional, but not the efficient, cause of an explosion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Metaph.) The system of occasional causes; -- a name given to certain theories of the Cartesian school of philosophers, as to the intervention of the First Cause, by which they account for the apparent reciprocal action of the soul and the body. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality or state of being occasional; occasional occurrence. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an occasional manner; on occasion; at times, as convenience requires or opportunity offers; not regularly. Stewart. [ 1913 Webster ]

The one, Wolsey, directly his subject by birth; the other, his subject occasionally by his preferment. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To occasion. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The lowest may occasionate much ill. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, occasions, causes, or produces. Bp. Sanderson. [ 1913 Webster ]