Learn English – a word to describe the place or role which someone takes

single-word-requests

The word isn't occupation by the way, however, it is subsumed under the meaning of the word that I am looking for.

I'll give a few examples in order to elucidate the meaning:

'The gentleman reserved her ______'

'By having his uncle murdered, he could take up the long awaited ____ as King of England'.

'The man asked whether he could take my ____ in line, as his cat was in labour'.

To be precise on what am looking for, it's about someone who has some sort of right to a given position (physical or abstract), of varying degree (from the line at the cheque point, right up unto the throne).

This means that 'place', whilst it does work for all three examples, is not the word am looking for, since you can have a place in say, the middle of the ocean, but no one has right to it (Well to be honest someone probably does for some silly reason).

Best Answer

How about place? It works well in all of your examples.

'The gentleman reserved his place.'

'By having his uncle murdered, he could take up his long awaited place as King of England.'

'The man asked whether he could take my place in line, as his cat was in labour.'

M-W:

place:

  • an available seat or accommodation [Example 1]

  • position in a social scale [Example 2]

  • relative position in a scale or series [Example 3]

Position also works:

'The gentleman reserved his position.'

'By having his uncle murdered, he could take up his long awaited position as King of England.'

'The man asked whether he could take my position in line, as his cat was in labour.'

M-W:

position: relative place, situation, or standing; social or official rank or status; a situation that confers advantage or preference

Position can also mean the point or area occupied by a physical object. This may speak to your comments about places or locations in the desert or ocean. Positions can also be abstract.

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