unoccupiedadj.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈɒkjᵿpʌɪd/, U.S. /ˌənˈɑkjəˌpaɪd/ 1. Not occupied or engaged in some work or activity; idle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > idleness, lack of occupation or activity > [adjective]
idlec950
tooma1340
unoccupiedc1405
void1530
restyc1540
unbusied1570
idlefula1652
haking1703
unbusy1731
otiose1850
non-employed1853
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Melibeus (Hengwrt) (2003) §625 Dooth somme goode dedes, þt the deuel, which is oure enemy, ne fynde yow nat vnocupied [c1460 Rawl. Poet. 149 idel].
1491 Compend. Abstr. Holy Rule Saynte Benet sig. bv, in Bk. Diuerse Ghostly Maters (Caxton) Lete theym be assigned to other occupacyons to doo, so that they be neuer vnoccupied in vertu.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. i. f. 88v A valiente mynde can not rest in one place or bee vnoccupyed.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 50v Prouide of thine owne, to haue all thing, at hand, least work and the workman, vnoccupied stand.
1645 J. Ussher Body of Divinitie 89 It being unbeseeming the Majesty of God to be idle and unoccupied all that time.
1647 H. Hexham Copious Eng. & Netherduytch Dict. Vnoccupied, or doing nothing, onbesigh.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 141. ⁋2 Acting when his imagination was unoccupied, and his judgment unsettled.
1780 E. Burke Speech Oeconomical Reformation 73 The council, or committees of council, were never a moment unoccupied, with affairs of trade.
1827 E. Bulwer-Lytton Falkland 22 I am unoccupied by a single pursuit.
1893 O. Wister in Harper's New Monthly Mag. Nov. vi. 51 When any cowboy was unoccupied, he would lounge over to my neighborhood and silently regard my carpentering.
1898 ‘H. S. Merriman’ Roden's Corner xvii She led a blameless, unoccupied, and apparently purposeless life.
2003 L. Salzinger Genders in Production 137 Throughout the building, apparently unoccupied workers can be seen wandering the factory floor.
2.
a. Of a place (a house, geographical area, room, seat, etc.): not occupied, empty, not in use; uninhabited. Formerly also: †(of land) uncultivated; (of a road, a pathway, etc.) not frequented, unused (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > non-possession > fact of not being possessed or owned > [adjective] > unoccupied
unoccupied1425
void1479
vacant1518
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > [adjective] > not > empty or unoccupied
emptyOE
unoccupied1425
void1479
vacant1518
waste1574
distenanted1594
tenantlessa1616
empse1642
untenanted1677
dead1879
the world > space > place > absence > fact of being unoccupied > [adjective]
voida1350
unoccupied1560
absent1587
devoid1590
vacant1600
naked1643
vacated1791
untrenched1887
1425 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Apr. 1425 §12. m. 3 Thomas..died withynne age, to whom of þat age longed no place in parlement, and so þe place longyng of right to þe erl of Northfolk..by þo causes unoccupied, þe erels of Arundell saten as hym liked.
1460–70 in C. Innes Sketches Early Sc. Hist. (1861) App. 507 Eftyr that the land lay long onoccupyt.
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) iv. l. 1762 Þar was wnoccupyide, Lyande beȝonde ane arme of se.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Judges v. 6 The hye wayes were vnoccupied, and the trauelers walked through bywayes.
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 5v No dwellers, what profiteth houses to stand, what goodnes, vnoccupied bringeth the land.
1630 F. Higginson New-Englands Plantation sig. C3v Great pitty it is to see so much good ground for Corne and for Grasse as any is vnder the Heauens, to lye altogether vnoccupied.
1691 J. Ray Wisdom of God 148 Doubtless if we shall discover further to the very North-pole, we shall find all that Tract not to be vain, useless or unoccupied.
1728 Stamford Mercury 11 Apr. 120/2 In case any of this Land shall remain unoccupied at May-Day next, Joysters of all sorts will then be taken in at reasonable rates.
1785 W. Cowper Task v. 557 The word That, finding an interminable space Unoccupied, has fill'd the void so well.
1807 European Mag. 52 111/1 This part of Lancashire is..highly cultivated, not an inch of ground lies waste and unoccupied.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. viii. 179 There was another large unoccupied desk in the corner of the great school.
1885 1st Rep. Commissioners Housing of Working Classes 457/2 in Parl. Papers 1884–5 (C. 4402) XXX. 1 There are always a very large number of unoccupied houses even in towns where the building trade is very active.
1923 J. Bowes Jackaroos 184 The region through which they were passing was unoccupied, and would make good relief country.
1969 K.-H. Scheer & W. Ernsting Radiant Dome ii. v. 162 The table in front of them was unoccupied.
1986 F. Peretti This Present Darkness xi. 126 She was down the hall in an unoccupied room.
2011 Waterford News & Star (Nexis) 11 May One local authority house in the Tramore area has been left unoccupied for 15 years.
b. Of an immaterial thing (a person's thoughts, an occupation, a radio frequency, etc.): not occupied, not filled.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > idleness, lack of occupation or activity > [adjective] > not engaged with something > specifically of a mind, ear, etc.
unoccupied1599
1599 L. A. tr. M. Martínez Eighth Bk. Myrror of Knighthood iii. iii. sig. E2v Most woorthie is her beautie..of the offer of my noble thought, whose reliques may solemnize her brauerie: neither is vnoccupied, for Loue doth occupie them all.
1701 N. Grew Cosmol. Sacra ii. iii. §18 The Phancy hath full Power to create them in the Sensories themselves, then unoccupy'd by External Impressions.
1776 H. Cowley Runaway i. 13 Never more shall I experience the aching void of indifference, or know one moment unoccupied by thee.
1830 M. R. Mitford Our Village IV. 107 She could not have chosen an occupation more completely unoccupied, or more loudly called for.
1832 Westm. Rev. Oct. 353 Cadences..highly favourable for leaving the ear unoccupied for any measure which may follow.
1845 A. Marsh Mount Sorel I. i. 25 Her affections and her lively imagination, unoccupied by more important things, overflowed upon those objects..which surrounded her.
1939 C. Lazare tr. L. Marcuse Soldier of Church i. 135 Any spare time had to be spent reading a classic so as ‘not to give the devil a chance to find his thoughts unoccupied’.
2004 Wall St. Jrnl. 15 Nov. (Central ed.) r12/6 The use of cognitive or ‘smart’ radios, which seek out unoccupied frequencies and increase their output levels in rural areas.
c. Military. Of an area of land: not under (esp. enemy) military control; designating territory or (a part of) a country not under military occupation.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > victory > [adjective] > unconquered > unoccupied
leera1250
unoccupied1829
1829 W. F. Napier Hist. War Penins. II. ix. ii. 397 The great valley and mountain being unoccupied, on the 27th, Sir Arthur Wellesley's attention should have been drawn to the right by a feint of the Spaniards.
1868 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea IV. ii. 34 (note) There was a mile or so of unoccupied ground between the Russian left and the sea.
1899 W. Crozier Rep. 31 July in F. W. Holls Peace Conf. Hague 1899 (1900) App. ii. 517 An unoccupied country suddenly invaded.
1917 Probl. of War 2 170 We turn from the case of unoccupied territory like Great Britain to occupied territory like Belgium.
1948 A. Johnson Norway ix. 190 There was considerable misunderstanding..between men in occupied and those in unoccupied Norway, each group acting according to its own ideas.
1978 A. Price '44 Vintage xviii. 210 A chateau south of the Loire..in the Vichy zone of unoccupied France.
2009 I. M. James Driven to Innovate i. 38 While Britain and other unoccupied countries might serve as useful stepping-stones they needed to go on to places more remote from the Nazi menace.
3. Of a period of time, material, object, etc.: not put to use; left unemployed.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > [adjective] > free (of time)
unoccupied?a1439
avoid1488
void1530
vacant1531
remiss1566
spared1580
nugifrivolous1589
sparea1610
leisure1669
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > non-use > [adjective]
unused1398
uncorea1400
unoccupied?a1439
unspendedc1440
unspent1466
undispendeda1483
untouched1538
unexpended1571
spared1580
fallow1588
unemployed1600
untasted1609
unenjoyed1643
unhandled1826
unutilized1868
inutilized1874
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) i. l. 4690 Eek onto fisshyng he gretly was applied, So that his youthe was neuer onocupied.
J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 2210 Tyme on-ocupyid, qwan folk haue lytyl to do.
1486 Bk. St. Albans sig. bvi Tho saame lewnes. yow shall fastyn than abowte yowre lyttyll fyngre slackely..as a bowstryng vnocupyede.
1534 W. Turner tr. J. von Watt Of Olde God & Newe Pref. sig. Bjv The swerd..beynge through dust & longe beynge vnoccupied..defiled with ruste.
1561 T. Hoby tr. B. Castiglione Courtyer iv. sig. Pp.iiii They..fell in decaye and lost their puissaunce and brightnesse, like yron vnoccupied.
1638 F. Junius Painting of Ancients iii. i. 248 Whosoever therefore would willingly meet with excellent and notable inventions, must..fill his unoccupied minde with all kinde of great and haughty conceits.
1796 F. Burney Camilla V. x. v. 354 Her time..hung not upon her unoccupied.
1829 W. Scott Anne of Geierstein III. ii. 38 As if desirous that the hour should arrive which would put an end to a day unoccupied.
1867 Brit. Q. Rev. Apr. 470 It happens that this comparatively unoccupied period is just that when telegraphic communications most press.
1915 H. L. Wilson Ruggles of Red Gap xv. 272 They redoubled their attentions to the unfortunate man, seeking to leave him not an unoccupied evening or afternoon.
1977 S. Turow One L 271 Much of that unoccupied time goes into extracurricular activities.
2008 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 9 Oct. c4 Pitt quarterback Bill Stull..spent every unoccupied moment receiving treatment from trainers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.c1405