occupant

[French, pr. par. of occuper = to occupy (q.v.); Sp. ocupante; Ital. occupante.] I. Ordinary Language: 1. Lit .: One who occupies; one who holds in po e ion; an occupier; as, the occupant of a farm or house. *2. Fig .: A prostitute. "He with his occupants Are clinged so close like dew-worms in the morne That he'll not stir." Marston: Satires. II. Law : One who takes po e ion of that which before belonged to nobody. [OCCUPANCY.] "Movables found upon the surface of the earth, or in the sea, and are unclaimed by any owner, are supposed to be abandoned by the last proprietor; and, as such, are returned into the common stock, and therefore belong, as in a state of nature, to the first occupant , unle they fall within the description of waifs, or estrays, or wreck, or hidden treasure; for these are vested by law in the sovereign."-Black stone: Comment ., bk. ii., ch. 23. *oc-cu-pāte, v . t . [Latin occupatus , pa. par. of occupo to take po e ion of.] [OCCUPY.] To take po e ion of; to hold, to po e , to oоссиру.