occurrence

[ uh-kur-uhns, uh-kuhr- ]

noun

1. the action, fact, or instance of occurring.
2. something that happens; event; incident:

   We were delayed by several unexpected occurrences.

   Synonyms: circumstance

occurrence

/ əˈkʌrəns /

noun

1. something that occurs; a happening; event
2. the act or an instance of occurring

   a crime of frequent occurrence

Other Words From

• oc·current adjective
• preoc·currence noun
• reoc·currence noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of occurrence¹

1530–40; < Latin occurrent-, stem of occurrēns (present participle of occurrere “to run up to, run to meet”), from oc- (variant of ob- ; ob- ( def ) ) + currere “to run” + -ence; compare Medieval Latin occurrentia

Synonym Study

See event.

Example Sentences

Rajnarayanan said one primary indicator of human-to-human transmission will be “the occurrence of clusters of cases where individuals have not had direct contact with infected animals.”

From Salon

The researchers call the statistical trends "tail-widening" that is, the anomalous occurrence of temperatures at the far upper end, or beyond, anything that would be expected with simple upward shifts in mean summer temperatures.

From Science Daily

Creating the atlas meant pulling the GPS coordinates from every modern crayfish occurrence record in the literature and from museum and agency collections.

From Science Daily

The agreement between the experiment and simulation confirmed the occurrence of nonlinear Compton scattering and allowed the team to deduce the colliding laser intensity by extracting its "fingerprint" from the gamma-ray signals.

From Science Daily

The Marine Mammal Commission notes that this is not a particularly unusual occurrence, nor is the number of whale deaths in this period higher than average.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• accident
• circumstance
• episode
• existence
• incidence
• incident
• instance
• manifestation
• situation