occasional

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Related to occasional: occasional tables

oc·ca·sion·al

(ə-kā′zhə-nəl)

adj.

1. Occurring, encountered, done, or taken from time to time; irregular or infrequent. See Synonyms at periodic.

2. Created for a special occasion: occasional verse.

3. Intended for use as the occasion requires: an occasional chair.

4. Being a factor that makes something possible; being a cause of something.

5. Acting in a specified capacity from time to time: an occasional hunter.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

occasional

(əˈkeɪʒənəl)

adj

1. taking place from time to time; not frequent or regular

2. of, for, or happening on special occasions

3. serving as an occasion (for something)

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

oc•ca•sion•al

(əˈkeɪ ʒə nl)

adj.

1. occurring or appearing at irregular or infrequent intervals: an occasional headache.

2. intended for supplementary use when needed: an occasional chair.

3. pertaining to, arising out of, or intended for the occasion: occasional verses.

4. acting or serving for the occasion or only on particular occasions.

5. serving as the occasion or incidental cause.

[1560–70]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Adj.	1.	occasional - occurring from time to time; "took an occasional glass of wine" infrequent - not frequent; not occurring regularly or at short intervals; "infrequent outbursts of temper"
	2.	occasional - occurring or appearing at usually irregular intervals; "episodic in his affections"; "occasional headaches" episodic unpredictable - not capable of being foretold
	3.	occasional - occurring from time to time; "casual employment"; "a casual correspondence with a former teacher"; "an occasional worker" casual irregular - contrary to rule or accepted order or general practice; "irregular hiring practices"
	4.	occasional - recurring or reappearing from time to time; "periodic feelings of anxiety" periodic sporadic - recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances; "a city subjected to sporadic bombing raids"

occasional

adjective infrequent, odd, rare, casual, irregular, sporadic, intermittent, few and far between, desultory, periodic I still get the occasional nightmare about the accident.
regular, usual, constant, routine, frequent, customary, continual, habitual, incessant

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

occasional

adjective

1. Happening or appearing now and then:

fitful, intermittent, periodic, periodical, sporadic.

Informal: on-again, off-again.

2. Rarely occurring or appearing:

infrequent, rare, scarce, sporadic, uncommon, unusual.

Idiom: few and far between.

Translations

من حين إلى آخَرمِن وَقْتٍ لِآخَرِ

příležitostný

lejlighedsvis

gelegentlichokkasionell

περιστασιακός

ocasional poco frecuente esporádico

satunnainen

occasionnel

povremen

sem gerist endrum og eins

occasionale

時折の

가끔의

incidenteel

leilighetsvis sporadisk

okazyjny

de vez em quando

случайный

priložnostenslučajen

tillfällig

ซึ่งเป็นครั้งคราว

ara sıraarasıra olan

thỉnh thoảng

偶尔的偶然的

occasional

[əˈkeɪʒənl]

A. ADJ

1. (= infrequent) [lapse, meeting] → esporádico; [rain, showers] → ocasional, aislado
she made occasional visits to England → hacía alguna que otra visita a Inglaterra → hacía visitas esporádicas a Inglaterra
I like the or an occasional cigarette → me gusta fumar un cigarrillo de vez en cuando
I have the or an occasional drink → tomo una copa de vez en cuando
they had passed the occasional car on the road → de vez en cuando pasaban algún coche en la carretera
he smokes only the or a very occasional cigar → sólo muy de vez en cuando or muy de tarde en tarde se fuma un puro

2. (frm) (= created for special event) [poem, music] → compuesto especialmente para la ocasión
it was written as an occasional piece for the Coronation → se escribió la pieza especialmente con ocasión de la coronación

B. CPD occasional table N → mesa f auxiliar
occasional worker N (US) → jornalero/a m/f, temporero/a m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

occasional

[əˈkeɪʒən^əl] adj

[visit, meeting, appearance] → occasionnel(le); [pain, headache, bout] → occasionnel(le); [lapse] → occasionnel(le)
the occasional ...
I like the occasional drink → J'aime bien boire un verre à l'occasion.

[series] → exceptionnel(le)

(= one or two)
architects, planners, and the occasional sociologist → des architectes, des urbanistes et quelques sociologues
Apart from the occasional article, he hadn't published anything → Mis à part un article de temps en temps, il n'avait rien publié.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

occasional

adj

visit, visitor, meeting, outburst, lapse → gelegentlich; he likes an or the occasional cigar → er raucht hin und wieder ganz gerne or gelegentlich ganz gern eine Zigarre; she made occasional visits to England → sie fuhr ab und zu nach England

(= designed for special event) → Gelegenheits-; occasional poem → Gelegenheitsgedicht nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

occasional

[əˈkeɪʒənl] adj (gen) → occasionale; (showers) → sporadico/a
I like the occasional cigarette → ogni tanto mi piace fumare una sigaretta

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

occasion

(əˈkeiʒən) noun

1. a particular time. I've heard him speak on several occasions.

2. a special event. The wedding was a great occasion.

ocˈcasional adjective

happening, done etc now and then. I take an occasional trip to London.

ocˈcasionally adverb

now and then. I occasionally go to the theatre.

occasional

→ مِن وَقْتٍ لِآخَرِ příležitostný lejlighedsvis gelegentlich περιστασιακός esporádico satunnainen occasionnel povremen occasionale 時折の 가끔의 incidenteel sporadisk okazyjny de vez em quando случайный tillfällig ซึ่งเป็นครั้งคราว ara sıra thỉnh thoảng 偶尔的

occasional

a. infrecuente, casual, accidental;

adv. a veces; de vez en cuando, ocasionalmente.

References in classic literature ?

but if an occasional cross be indispensable, the fullest freedom for the entrance of pollen from another individual will explain this state of exposure, more especially as the plant's own anthers and pistil generally stand so close together that self-fertilisation seems almost inevitable.

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IT MAY be contended, perhaps, that instead of OCCASIONAL appeals to the people, which are liable to the objections urged against them, PERIODICAL appeals are the proper and adequate means of PREVENTING AND CORRECTING INFRACTIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION.

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An occasional party of sailors from a war-ship, their faces pictures of sturdy health, spent the earlier hours of the evening at the small round tables.

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Having picked up another guest, they turned southward, avoiding the greater mountains, but conscious of an occasional summit, rounded and mild, whose colouring differed in quality from that of the lower earth, and whose contours altered more slowly.

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He sat hour after hour among white-leaved books, alone like an idol in an empty church, still except for the passage of his hand from one side of the sheet to another, silent save for an occasional choke, which drove him to extend his pipe a moment in the air.

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The passages from Sketches from Memory show that Hawthorne had visited the mountains in one of his occasional rambles from home, but there are no entries in his Note Books which give accounts of such a visit.

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I republish the story with its original conclusion unaltered, but with such occasional additions and improvements as will, I hope, render it more worthy of attention at the present time.

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The three men in the wagon kept a short distance in the rear, giving him occasional friendly "chaff" or encouragement, as the spirit moved them.

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From hand to hand, the buckets went in the deepest silence, only broken by the occasional flap of a sail, and the steady hum of the unceasingly advancing keel.

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The wind blew coldly from the northeast, with occasional flurries of snow, which made them encamp early, on the sheltered banks of a brook.

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At last he saw it, the thing the little monkeys so feared-- the man-brute of which the Claytons had caught occasional fleeting glimpses.

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"However, I suppose an occasional mistake can scarcely be wondered at.

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