Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Occupation \Oc`cu*pa"tion\, n. [L. occupatio: cf.F. occupation.]
   1. The act or process of occupying or taking possession;
      actual possession and control; the state of being
      occupied; a holding or keeping; tenure; use; as, the
      occupation of lands by a tenant.

   2. That which occupies or engages the time and attention; the
      principal business of one's life; vocation; employment;
      calling; trade.

            Absence of occupation is not rest.    --Cowper.

   {Occupation bridge} (Engin.), a bridge connecting the parts
      of an estate separated by a railroad, a canal, or an
      ordinary road.

   Syn: Occupancy; possession; tenure; use; employment;
        avocation; engagement; vocation; calling; office; trade;
        profession.

Source : WordNet®

occupation
     n 1: the principal activity in your life that you do to earn
          money; "he's not in my line of business" [syn: {business},
           {job}, {line of work}, {line}]
     2: the control of a country by military forces of a foreign
        power [syn: {military control}]
     3: any activity that occupies a person's attention; "he missed
        the bell in his occupation with the computer game"
     4: the act of occupying or taking possession of a building;
        "occupation of a building without a certificate of
        occupancy is illegal" [syn: {occupancy}, {taking
        possession}, {moving in}]
     5: the period of time during which a place or position or
        nation is occupied; "during the German occupation of
        Paris"