preoccupation
noun
[ prɪˌɒkjʊˈpeɪʃ(ə)n ]
• the state or condition of being preoccupied or engrossed with something.
Similar:
pensiveness,
concentration,
engrossment,
absorption,
self-absorption,
musing,
thinking,
thinking of other things,
deep thought,
brown study,
brooding,
abstraction,
absent-mindedness,
absence of mind,
distraction,
forgetfulness,
inattentiveness,
wool-gathering,
inadvertence,
heedlessness,
dream,
reverie,
daydreaming,
oblivion,
obliviousness,
Origin:
late 16th century (first used in rhetoric in the sense ‘anticipating and meeting objections beforehand’): from Latin praeoccupatio(n- ), from praeoccupare ‘seize beforehand’ (see preoccupy).
