avocate en · VERB
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin avoco, avocatus. Doublet of avoke.
Meanings
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(obsolete) To call off or away; to withdraw; to transfer to another tribunal.
Stage-playes and dancing avocate and with-hold men from Gods worſhip
1632 (indicated as 1633), William Prynne, Histrio-mastix. The Players Scourge, or, Actors Tragædie, […], London: […] E[lizabeth] A[llde,] [Thomas Cotes, Augustine Matthews] and W[illiam] I[ones] for Michael Sparke, […], →OCLC, 1st part, folio 539, verso:for what is a scholar, but one who retireth his person, and avocateth his mind from other occupations and worldly entertainment
a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “Sermon LIV”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume III, London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1831, →OCLC, page 346:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| avocating | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| avocated | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| avocated | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| avocates | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |