occasional

English

Etymology

From Middle English occasyonal, from Medieval Latin occāsiōnālis and Old French ocasionel. By surface analysis, occasion +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈkeɪʒ(ə)nəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: oc‧ca‧sion‧al

Adjective

occasional (comparative more occasional, superlative most occasional)

1. Occurring or appearing irregularly from time to time, but not often; incidental.

   He was mostly solitary, but enjoyed the occasional visitor.

   He took an occasional glass of wine.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Ebbfield Interlude”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 95:

     The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.

   • 2003 April 17, Blake Gopnik, “Art That Advertises Itself; Saatchi's Ornate New Gallery Pits Young British Artists Against the Establishment”, in Washington Post:

     But the truth is that plenty of artists from other countries make work that's bold, naughty or nasty, without getting more than a very occasional headline.

2. Created for a specific occasion.

   Elgar's music was not created to be occasional music for high-school graduations.

3. Intended for use as the occasion requires.

   What your living room needs are some occasional chairs.

4. Acting in the indicated role from time to time.

   He is an occasional writer of letters to the editor.

Derived terms

• occasional furniture
• occasionally
• occasional table

 

Translations

limited to certain occasions; not very often

• Arabic: عَرَضِيّ (ʕaraḍiyy)
• Bulgarian: случаен (bg) (slučaen), нередовен (bg) (neredoven)
• Catalan: ocasional
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 偶然 (zh) (ǒurán), 偶爾 / 偶尔 (zh) (ǒu'ěr)

• Cornish: treweythus
• Czech: příležitostný, občasný (cs)
• Dutch: toevallig (nl), nu en dan (nl), af en toe (nl), indicenteel, occasioneel (nl)
• Finnish: satunnainen (fi)
• French: occasionnel (fr)
• German: gelegentlich (de), okkasionell (de)
• Hungarian: alkalmi (hu), esetenkénti
• Irish: ócáideach
• Italian: occasionale (it)
• Japanese: 時折の (ja) (ときおりの, tokiori no), 偶発的 (ぐうはつてき, gūhatsuteki), 偶 (ja) (たまたま, たま, tamatama, tama), 偶然な (ja) (ぐうぜんな, gūzen na)
• Korean: 가끔하는 (gakkeumhaneun)
• Maltese: okkażjonali
• Manx: keayrtagh
• Polish: okazjonalny (pl), przypadkowy (pl), rzadki (pl), sporadyczny (pl)
• Portuguese: ocasional (pt)
• Romanian: ocazional (ro) m or n
• Russian: случа́йный (ru) (slučájnyj), ре́дкий (ru) (rédkij)
• Scottish Gaelic: corra
• Slovak: príležitostný, občasný
• Spanish: ocasional (es), esporádico (es)
• Swedish: ockasionell (sv) (formal), no accurate non-formal translation exists, an adverb is most often used instead.
• Welsh: achlysurol (cy)

Noun

occasional (plural occasionals)

1. A person who does something only occasionally.

References

• “occasional”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “occasional”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.