occupy

Where it comes from

Occupy ordinarily means to live in, use, or take control of a place, or to fill time or attention. Occupy came through French from Latin occupare, to seize or take possession, formed around capere, to take or grasp. Its early English range included possessing a place, filling space or time, and keeping someone employed or busy. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries occupy also became a common euphemism for sexual intercourse. The association grew disreputable enough for Shakespeare to joke that villains had made an excellent word odious.

How the meaning developed

The ordinary senses survived and later recovered their public prominence.