co-occur: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
C1/C2 (Academic/Technical)Formal, academic, technical
Quick answer
What does “co-occur” mean?
To happen or exist at the same time or in the same place.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
To happen or exist at the same time or in the same place; to appear together.
In linguistics and statistics, the tendency of two or more linguistic items (e.g., words, phonemes) to appear together more frequently than would be expected by chance. In other fields, it refers to the simultaneous presence or occurrence of two or more events, conditions, or phenomena.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant differences in meaning or usage. Spelling conventions regarding hyphens may be slightly more conservative in BrE, but both variants use the hyphen.
Connotations
Neutral and technical in both varieties.
Frequency
Slightly more frequent in American academic writing due to the larger volume of corpus linguistics and quantitative social science research, but the term is standard in both.
Grammar
How to Use “co-occur” in a Sentence
X co-occurs with YX and Y co-occurIt is common for X to co-occur with YVocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “co-occur” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- These two genetic markers rarely co-occur in the population.
- In this dialect, the glottal stop and 't'-dropping often co-occur.
American English
- High blood pressure and obesity frequently co-occur in patients.
- The study analysed which words co-occur with 'sustainability' in corporate reports.
adverb
British English
- (Rarely used; 'concurrently' or 'simultaneously' is preferred.)
American English
- (Rarely used; 'concurrently' or 'simultaneously' is preferred.)
adjective
British English
- The research paper listed several co-occurring linguistic features.
- They studied the co-occur event probability.
American English
- The model accounts for co-occurring risk factors.
- Co-occur analysis is a key part of corpus linguistics.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Rare. Might be used in market analysis: 'These consumer trends rarely co-occur.'
Academic
Common in linguistics, psychology, medicine, and statistics: 'Depression and anxiety disorders frequently co-occur.'
Everyday
Very rare. Would be replaced by simpler terms like 'happen together.'
Technical
The primary register. Used precisely to describe correlated events or linguistic patterns.
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “co-occur”
- Omitting the hyphen: 'These factors cooccur' (non-standard).
- Using it causally: 'Smoking co-occurs lung cancer' (incorrect; should be 'co-occurs *with* lung cancer').
- Overusing in general contexts where 'happen together' suffices.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Co-occurrence describes things happening together, which may be due to chance or a common cause, but it does not imply that one causes the other.
It sounds very formal and technical. In everyday speech, use simpler phrases like 'happen together,' 'go together,' or 'occur at the same time.'
The standard noun form is 'co-occurrence' (e.g., 'the co-occurrence of drought and famine').
Yes, especially in the verb form. The hyphen is standard in 'co-occur' and 'co-occurrence' to clarify the prefix.
To happen or exist at the same time or in the same place.
Co-occur is usually formal, academic, technical in register.
Co-occur: in British English it is pronounced /ˌkəʊ.əˈkɜː(r)/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˌkoʊ.əˈkɝː/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “(None specific to this technical term)”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of CO-OPERATE (working together). CO-OCCUR means events OCCURring together.
Conceptual Metaphor
EVENTS ARE COMPANIONS (they accompany each other).
Practice
Quiz
In which context is the verb 'co-occur' MOST appropriately used?