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occasional, a. (n.)|əˈkeɪʒənəl|
[f. occasion n.1 + -al1; cf. late L. occāsiōnāliter as occasion arises, F. occasionnel (1718 in Dict. Acad.).]
A. adj.
†1. That happens or arises casually or incidentally; casual. Obs.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 109 The stealyng of their Apples, and their other occasionall dammages. 1654Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Warrs of Flanders 362 He said..that the tumults..might be caused by some occasional confusion.
2. a. Happening or operating on some particular occasion; limited to specific occasions; arising out of, required by, or made for, the occasion.
occasional conformity, occasional conformist: see conformity 3, conformist 2; † occasional bill = Occasional Conformity Bill. occasional cause combines the meanings ‘operating on a particular occasion’ and ‘serving as an occasion or secondary cause’: see quots. under sense 4, and cf. occasionalism.
a1631Donne in Select. (1840) 27 For other occasional points, the Church had need of a continual assistance of the Spirit of God. 1661Heylin Hist. Ref. II. 35 The sacrifice of Noah as it was remarkable, so it was occasional. 1677W. Hubbard Narrative i. (1865) 247 By his occasional going from the Sermon, being forced thereunto by the Extremity of the Toothach. 1711Swift Lett. III. 265 They say the Occasional bill is brought to-day into the house of lords. 1776Adam Smith W.N. ii. ii. (1869) I. 306 Gold and silver which he would otherwise have been obliged to keep by him for answering occasional demands. 1790Burke Fr. Rev. 301 The vice of the ancient democracies..was, that they ruled..by occasional decrees, psephismata. 1825Bentham Ration. Rew. 5 With regard to rewards, the most important division is into occasional and permanent.
b. Of a speech, literary composition, religious service, etc.: Produced on, or intended for, a special occasion. Hence occasional speaker, occasional writer, etc., one who delivers occasional speeches or writes occasional verses, pamphlets, etc.
1687Dryden Hind & P. ii. 339 Yet all those letters were not writ to all, Nor first intended, but occasional Their absent sermons. 1701Stanley's Hist. Philos. Biog. 4 Their Doctrines, Letters, Occasional Speeches. 1779–81Johnson L.P., Dryden Wks. II. 389 In an occasional performance no height of excellence can be expected. 1829H. C. Robinson Diary 13 Aug. (1967) 102 [Goethe] remarked..that occasional poems are among the best poems when the poet takes care to retain all the spirit of the occasion. 1834G. Crabbe jun. in Poet. Wks. G. Crabbe I. i. 15 His father took in a periodical work..which contained, at the end of each number, a sheet of ‘occasional poetry’. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 642 It..sustains, better perhaps than any occasional service which has been framed during two centuries, a comparison with..the Book of Common Prayer. 1883Manch. Guard. 22 Oct. 5/4 Some of his verses are purely occasional and have no claim to stability. 1891F. Locker-Lampson Lyra Elegantiarum (rev. ed.) p. x, In his [sc. the Editor's] judgment Occasional Verse should be short, graceful, refined, and fanciful, not seldom distinguished by chastened sentiment, and often playful. 1894Westm. Gaz. 5 Mar. 3/1 He is..one of the very best occasional speakers in England. No one is quicker at seizing the spirit of an occasion. 1932Chadwick & Kershaw Growth of Lit. I. 25 Both poems [sc. Deor and Widsith]..contain passages describing what purport to be personal experiences of the authors, and which—at least in the case of Deor—approximate to ‘occasional’ poetry. 1965M. Spark Mandelbaum Gate i. 11 He..had before the war published a volume of his own occasional verses. 1976S. Hynes Auden Generation v. 140 Lehmann's The Noise of History and Spender's Vienna..are occasional: like..‘Easter 1916’ and Auden's elegy on Yeats—they mythologize history.
c. Of an article of use, building, piece of furniture, etc.: Made or constructed for the occasion; adapted for use on special occasions.
1749J. Cleland Mem. Woman Pleasure II. 91 Mrs. Cole had prepar'd my spark and me an occasional field-bed, to which we retired. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 84 [We bored] a large hole in the side of our ship..for which we had an occasional plug prepared. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. III. 25 At night, half a dozen occasional beds are ranged..along the wall. 1813Chron. in Ann. Reg. 51 The occasional saloon was singularly novel and beautiful. 1857Dickens & Collins Lazy Tour i. in Househ. Words 3 Oct. 316/1 A little round occasional table in a window. 1875Carpentry and Join. 115 A loo, or occasional table. 1897Westm. Gaz. 21 June 7/1 The chair that the Queen sat in during the service was a Chippendale occasional Spanish mahogany chair.
d. Of persons: Acting or employed for the occasion or on particular occasions.
1759Ann. Reg. 140 That the occasional proctors take all possible care that order..be observed. 1771in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury (1870) I. 233 An occasional maid of Louisa's, who supplies the place of her own when she is absent with Gertrude. 1785Paley Mor. Philos. (1818) II. 430 Loose ranks of occasional and newly-levied troops. a1859Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiii. V. 14 The occasional soldier is no match for the professional soldier.
3. Happening as an occasion presents itself, but without certainty or regularity; taking place, occurring, or met with now and then.
1630[implied in occasionally 3]. a1715Burnet (J.), According to many occasional reflections dispersed in other places of Scripture concerning it [the flood]. 1828Webster s.v., We make occasional remarks on the events of the age. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 293 In spite of the occasional murmurs of the Commons. 1865Livingstone Zambesi v. 108 With the exception of an occasional leopard, there are no beasts of prey to disturb domestic animals. 1878L. P. Meredith Teeth 65 The human teeth have doubtless been subject through all time to occasional disease. 1881J. Russell Haigs v. 105 An occasional raid upon his neighbour's moveables.
4. Constituting or serving as the occasion or incidental cause; rarely const. of. occasional cause (Metaph.), (a) a secondary cause whereby or whereupon the primary or efficient cause comes into operation; (b) in the Cartesian philosophy: see occasionalism.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. (J.), The ground or occasional origin hereof. 1662J. Chandler Van Helmont's Oriat. 119 Second, partaking causes, also free mediating con-causes, and occasionall ones accompanying them: over all which..God is..the totall, immediate, and independent cause. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v. Cause, The motions..of the soul and body, are only Occasional Causes of what passes in the one or the other. a1850Rossetti Dante & Circ. i. (1874) 124 Deem thou nothing else occasional Of my long silence. 1854Ferrier Inst. Metaph. 476 The Cartesian doctrine of occasional, as distinguished from efficient causes. 1892Daily News 24 Mar. 5/7 The ‘occasional’ question—using the adjective in the metaphysical sense—is a question about wages.
B. n.
†1. An occasional speech or writing. (Chiefly pl.) Obs.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. xi. x. §87 Hereat Mr. Dod..fell into a pertinent and seasonable discourse (as more better at occasionals). 1682Ld. North (title) Light in the Way to Paradise, with other occasionals.
2. colloq. An occasional workman, etc. (cf. casual B. 3).
1867‘Mark Twain’ Lett. to Publishers (1967) 13, I am on the N.Y. Tribune staff here as an ‘occasional’, among other things. 1892Pall Mall G. 6 Apr. 2/2 There is no way of meeting both cases at once except by discriminating between the regulars and the occasionals. 1908Westm. Gaz. 10 Dec. 6/1 (heading) Oxford University v. Oxford Occasionals. 1977‘J. Le Carré’ Hon. Schoolboy v. 112 He never got round to blowing [sc. betraying] the Occasionals{ddd}the Occasionals were filed..in a separate archive.
Hence oˈccasionalness (Bailey vol. II, 1727). |