1. a person who resides or is present in a house, vehicle, seat, etc., at a given time: "the previous occupant of her room"
▪ the holder of a position or office: "the first occupant of the Chair of Botany"
▪ a person in actual possession of property, especially land.
▪ a person who establishes a title by taking possession of something that previously did not have an established owner.
Word Originlate 16th century (in the legal sense ‘person who establishes a title’): from French, or from Latin occupant- ‘seizing’, from the verb occupare.