Like many words, occupation has different meanings. Here's the one that
I use.
1 a : an activity in which one engages <pursuing pleasure has
been his major occupation>
Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occupation
A while back, I wrote an e-mail to the editors of Merriam_Webster's
dictionary. Here's my message and the reply:
-----Original Message-----
>Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 23:57:31 -0800 (PST)
>From: "Ron Carson" <rdcar...@otnow.com>
>Subject: History of the word "occupation"
>To: l...@merriam-webster.com
>
>Hello:
>
> I am an occupational therapist. My profession has existed since about
> 1914 but is very unknown. One reason may be related to the use of the
> word 'occupation'.
>
> While the word occupation has several meanings, I am interested in
> knowing the history of it as it applies to the meaning of occupation
> as it relates >to occupational therapy.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Ron Carson
"Occupation" is related to the word "occupy," and both words ultimately
come from the same Latin root word meaning "to seize, to possess or take
up." An occupation is a taking up of something: occupation of another
country is the taking up or seizing of land; an occupation in the sense
of "an activity" is something that takes up one's time; occupation
meaning "a vocation, profession, employment" is the taking up of one's
time, energies, and life.
This word is very old, and has been in use for centuries. "Occupation"
in the sense of "employment, business, and/or an activity" has been
around since the 1300s at least and was used by authors like Chaucer.
However, "occupational" is more recent. The _Oxford English Dictionary_
gives a citation for it from 1850, and I am unaware of any earlier
appearances of this word.
As for the naming of occupational therapy...I should begin by saying
that I don't know much about occupational therapy, but from reading
several Web pages about the history of occupational therapy and related
disciplines put up by college students studying occupational therapy
(like
http://www.ceap.wcu.edu/hhp/students/JeffMansfield/archive/rthistory.htm
l
http://www.angelfire.com/ut/otpsych/history.html
http://tiger.towson.edu/users/ptappe1/historyOT.htm )
I drew these conclusions: 1) Occupational therapy is rooted in efforts
in the 1700s and 1800s to improve the well-being of mentally ill and
infirm people. 2) These forerunners of modern-day occupational
therapists tried to make the lives of the mentally ill and infirm more
fulfilling by finding them activities to *occupy* their time and
teaching them skills that would be useful in an *occupation*. 3)
Nowadays, occupational therapy is concerned with rehabilitating
sufferers of physical illness: injuries (often obtained at work--one's
*occupation*), disabilities, and infirmity. (Perhaps the field of
occupational therapy expanded in the US after soldiers returned from the
first World War?) 4) Someone claimed on the Internet that George Edward
Barton was the originator of the term "occupational therapy"
(http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&th=61e953aa
a46c2c35&rnum=1). I can't prove or disprove his assertion at the moment,
but you may find the writing I linked to to be interesting reading.
In any case, it seems to me that occupational therapy is called just
that because of its focus on activity, compared to, say, physical
therapy. A physical therapist would help a victim of a car accident
regain muscle tone in his or her legs and the ability to walk, but an
occupational therapist would teach the person how to climb a ladder, how
to go up and down stairs, etc.
I think one reason why occupational therapy remains unknown is that it
is often confused with physical therapy. But as the population
(especially the "baby boomer" segment) ages, knowledge of occupational
therapy will probably spread, since more people will find themselves
needing the services of occupational therapists.
I hope I have been helpful. Thank you for writing to Merriam-Webster.
Sincerely,
Judy Yeh
Assistant Editor
Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal Street, P.O. Box 281
Springfield, MA 01102
Phone: 413-734-3134, ext. 133
j...@merriam-webster.com
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