A favorable or appropriate time or juncture; an opportunity. See Synonyms at opportunity.
Something that brings on or precipitates an action, condition, or event, especially the immediate cause. See Synonyms at cause.
Something that provides a reason or justification; a ground.
A need created by a particular circumstance: "He must buy what he has little occasion for” ( Laurence Sterne).
A large or important social gathering.
Archaic Personal requirements or necessities.
To provide occasion for; cause: "The year's annual reports occasion an especially revealing glimpse of how corporations lend . . . embellishment to the stark numbers of the comptroller's office” ( Mark Muro).