Occasionalism
(Oc*ca"sion*al*ism) 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.
Occasionality
(Oc*ca`sion*al"i*ty) n. Quality or state of being occasional; occasional occurrence. [R.]
Occasionally
(Oc*ca"sion*al*ly) adv. In an occasional manner; on occasion; at times, as convenience
requires or opportunity offers; not regularly. Stewart.
The one, Wolsey, directly his subject by birth; the other, his subject occasionally by his preferment.
Fuller. Occasionate
(Oc*ca"sion*ate) v. t. To occasion. [Obs.]
The lowest may occasionate much ill.
Dr. H. More. Occasioner
(Oc*ca"sion*er) n. One who, or that which, occasions, causes, or produces. Bp. Sanderson.
Occasive
(Oc*ca"sive) a. [L. occasivus, fr. occasus a going down, setting of the heavenly bodies, fr.
occidere to fall or down. See Occasion.] Of or pertaining to the setting sun; falling; descending; western.
Occecation
(Oc*ce*ca"tion) n. [L. occaecatio, fr. occaecare to make blind; ob + caecare to blind, fr.
caecus blind.] The act of making blind, or the state of being blind. [R.] "This inward occecation." Bp.
Hall.
Occident
(Oc"ci*dent) n. [F., fr. L. occidens, occidentis, fr. occidents, p. pr. of occidere to fall or
go down. See Occasion.] The part of the horizon where the sun last appears in the evening; that part
of the earth towards the sunset; the west; — opposed to orient. Specifically, in former times, Europe as
opposed to Asia; now, also, the Western hemisphere. Chaucer.
I may wander from east to occident.
Shak. Occidental
(Oc`ci*den"tal) a. [L. occidentalis; cf. F. occidental.]
1. Of, pertaining to, or situated in, the occident, or west; western; — opposed to oriental; as, occidental
climates, or customs; an occidental planet.
2. Possessing inferior hardness, brilliancy, or beauty; — used of inferior precious stones and gems, because
those found in the Orient are generally superior.
Occidentals
(Oc`ci*den"tals) n. pl. (Eccl.) Western Christians of the Latin rite. See Orientals. Shipley.
Occiduous
(Oc*cid"u*ous) a. [L. occiduus, fr. occidere to go down.] Western; occidental. [R.] Blount.
Occipital
(Oc*cip"i*tal) a. [Cf. F. occipital.] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the occiput, or back part of the
head, or to the occipital bone.
Occipital bone (Anat.), the bone which forms the posterior segment of the skull and surrounds the
great foramen by which the spinal cord leaves the cranium. In the higher vertebrates it is usually composed
of four bones, which become consolidated in the adult. — Occipital point (Anat.), the point of the
occiput in the mesial plane farthest from the ophryon.
Occipital
(Oc*cip"i*tal), n. (Anat.) The occipital bone.
