Occlude

Occlude is a verb meaning to close up, obstruct, or block passage. It derives from the Latin occludere, from ob- “toward” and cludere “to close.” The noun form occlusion refers to the act or result of occluding something.

In medicine and anatomy, occlusion denotes blockage of a channel or vessel. Vascular occlusion may be intentional, such as during surgery to control bleeding, or occur as a pathological condition. Dental occlusion describes the relationship between the upper and lower teeth when the jaws are closed, and is used to assess bite alignment and guide restorative work. In ophthalmology, retinal or cerebral occlusion refers to blockage of arteries supplying the eye or brain and can cause serious impairment.

In vision science and computer vision, occlusion occurs when one object partially covers another, reducing the visible surface of the occluded object. This complicates tasks such as object recognition and tracking, and researchers study occlusion-robust methods and datasets to improve performance.

The term also appears in broader clinical contexts, such as occluding a bleeding vessel in interventional procedures or describing the closure of ducts or lumens in various organs. Across disciplines, occlude denotes the act of blocking, while occlusion refers to the resulting state or relationship.