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occasional |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Occasional \Oc*ca"sion*al\, a. [Cf.F. occasionnel.] 1. Of or pertaining to an occasion or to occasions; occuring at times, but not constant, regular, or systematic; made or happening as opportunity requires or admits; casual; incidental; as occasional remarks, or efforts. The . . . occasional writing of the present times. --Bagehot. 2. Produced by accident; as the occasional origin of a thing [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne. {Occasional cause} (Metaph.), some circumstance preceding an effect which without being the real cause becomes the occasion of the action of the efficient cause thus the act of touching gunpowder with fire is the occasional, but not the efficient, cause of an explosion. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: occasional adj 1: occurring from time to time; "took an occasional glass of wine" [syn: {occasional(a)}] 2: occurring or appearing at usually irregular intervals; "episodic in his affections"; "occasional headaches" [syn: {episodic}] 3: employed in a specified capacity from time to time; "casual employment"; "a casual correspondence with a former teacher"; "an occasional worker" [syn: {casual}] From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]: OCCASIONAL, adj Afflicting us with greater or less frequency. That however, is not the sense in which the word is used in the phrase "occasional verses," which are verses written for an "occasion," such as an anniversary, a celebration or other event. True, they afflict us a little worse than other sorts of verse, but their name has no reference to irregular recurrence.
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