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Glite Dictionary
🤔 Deep concern 🏞️ Early possession
preoccupation

preoccupation

1 7.0
Taking control of land or property before someone else can claim it
  • noun
  • /ˌpriːˌɒkjʊˈpeɪʃən/
translation icon : ocupación
  • A brief overview of the novels reveals the distinct preoccupations of Martn Gaite, Tusquets, Montero, and Moix, whose novelistic styles also differ widely.

Examples

  • In addition to European arms control's hardware focus in the late 1980s, preoccupation with extensive, formal monitoring measures is also likely to wane.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Since the mid-1970s, community ecology has undergone a slow shift away from a long preoccupation with questions of community equilibrium and stability.

    Academic text (1992)

  • The preoccupation of United States officials and members of Congress with this set of problems intensified.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The preoccupation of insurance companies with no-fault proposals indicates a larger problem.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Beyond its security preoccupations with Pakistan and China, will India be able to take on the mantle of leadership in South Asia?

    Academic text (1997)

  • The DEQ dependency factor reflects a preoccupation with abandonment and separation, feelings of being unloved, and fear of loss.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The dissidents asserted that far from improving the representational capacity and influence of the chamber, as the leadership claimed, CANACINTRA's preoccupation with organizational status had predisposed the chamber toward passivity.

    Academic text (2000)

  • Her constant preoccupation with work left her little time for family and friends.

  • His preoccupation with finding a new job made him less attentive to his studies.

  • The team's preoccupation with safety protocols ensured that everyone returned home safely.

Synonyms

preoccupancy
vspreoccupation
9.7

Taking a place before others do

is the same in meaning but appears as a different written form

Surface Forms

preoccupation singular
preoccupations plural

Morphology

preoccupation = preoccupy (semi-transparent) = pre + occupy + ation

This is a standard noun formation from the verb 'preoccupy' meaning the act or result of preoccupying.

Etymology

The word preoccupation comes from pre- 'before' and occupation (from occupy) meaning 'to take or hold a place'. So, in the sense of land or property, a preoccupation is taking or holding something before someone else does.