When the term occupy was first introduced in the English language during the mid-fourteenth century, it meant “to make use of”. From the 1470s to the 1700s, it also carried a connotation of “having sexual intercourse with”, but this inappropriate meaning eventually faded away in favor of its modern interpretation (during this period, occupant also referred to a “prostitute”). Originating from Old French occuper, the word can be traced back to Latin occupare, which means “to take possession of”. This word is a combination of the prefix ob-, signifying “over” (from Proto-Indo-European hepi, meaning “on”), and the verb capere, meaning “seize” (also the root of words like captive, capiche, expect, receive, capacity, and more; through Proto-Italic kapio, it has its origins in Proto-Indo-European kap, which means “to grasp”). The literary usage of both occupy and occupant reached its peak in the late nineteenth century.
