Dictionary

invoke en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɪnˈvoʊk/ (General-American)
• in'vōk
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ɪnˈvəʊk/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English *invoken, envoken, borrowed from Old French envoquer, from Latin invocāre (“to call upon”), itself from in- + vocare (“to call”). Doublet of invocate.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To call upon (a person, a god) for help, assistance or guidance.
2. (transitive) To solicit, petition for, appeal to a favorable attitude.
   • Whatever the pressures that have invoked the Minister's diktat, the outcome is Gilbertian. 1964 May, “News and Comment: Minister hamstrings BR workshops”, in Modern Railways, page 291:
   • In May [1995], the court issued an interdict preventing the service withdrawal, pending consultation on the closure to passenger traffic of three short stretches of railway around Glasgow and its hinterland that were only used by the Fort William Sleeper - and for which BR had failed to invoke standard closure procedures. 2021 August 25, David Clough, “The Sleeper experience”, in RAIL, number 938, page 61:
   • The envoy invoked the King of Kings's magnanimity to reduce his province's tribute after another drought.
3. (of one ship, transitive) To call another ship.
4. (transitive) To call to mind (something) for some purpose.
   • It is easier to invoke or to deplore democracy than to say exactly what it is. 1912, William Sharp McKechnie, The New Democracy and the Constitution:
   • After marriage, the man had anciently (but this was anterior to Christianity) the power of life and death over his wife. She could invoke no law against him; he was her sole tribunal and law. 1869, John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women:
   • The acquisition of a useless part can hardly be said to raise an organism in the natural scale; and in the case of the imperfect, closed flowers, above described, if any new principle has to be invoked, it must be one of retrogression rather than of progression; and so it must be with many parasitic and degraded animals. 1872, Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species:
5. (transitive) To appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority.
   • He invoked cadaveric poisoning as the reason for the high death rate among priests and monks […] 1969, Philip Ziegler, The Black Death, Folio Society, published 2007, page 21:
   • Their ties to the area may be based on traditional rather than written claims – but Bir Tawil is not any more a “no man’s land” than the territory once known as British East Africa, where terra nullius was repeatedly invoked in the early 20th century by both chartered companies and the British government that supported them to justify the appropriation of territory from indigenous people. 2016 March 3, Jack Shenker, “Welcome to the land that no country wants”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 06 Apr 2020:
   • In certain Christian circles, invoking the Bible constitutes irrefutable proof.
6. (transitive) To conjure up with incantations.
   • This satanist ritual invokes Beelzebub.
7. (transitive) To bring about as an inevitable consequence.
   • Blasphemy is taboo as it may invoke divine wrath.
8. (transitive) To cause (a program or subroutine) to execute.
   • Interactive programs let the users enter choices and invoke the corresponding routines.
   • […]the selling price and cost of a particular item are derived by the system through a table lookup and assigned to the item at invoking time. 1974 August 7, “Wholesalers Gain Basic Facts”, in Computerworld:
   • C++ lets you invoke an operator function either by calling the function or by using the overloaded operator with its usual syntax. 2011, Stephen Prata, C++ Primer Plus:

Forms

Deriveds

invoker · invocational · misinvoke · invocator · invokable · invokingly · invocation · uninvoked · invocatory · invocable · uninvokable · uninvocable · reinvoke

Relateds

advoke · provoke · evoke · avoke · convoke · revoke

Synonyms

bring about · incite · abet · urge · instigate · promote · lash · evoke · engender · reference · whip up · inflame · oblige · set off · rouse · solicit · invoke · enmind · run · goose · prompt · cheer · fuel · motive · actuate · sting · bring to mind · motivate · appeal · drive · push · excite · impel · send · spark off · stoke · ignite · stir up · spur on · obligate · tempt · cite · light a fire under · grill · summon · evoke · draw · invocate · incite · petition · stimulate · egg on · signal · encourage · provoke · call · launch · appeal · move · call to mind · bring about · foment · whet · induce · spur · execute · stir · goad

Translations (77)

bg умолявам (solicit, petition for) · bg моля (solicit, petition for) · hu meghív ((computing) cause to execute) · it richiamare ((computing) cause to execute) · es invocar (conjure up by incantation) · eo elvoki (call upon someone for help etc.) · hu megidéz (conjure up by incantation) · fr invoquer (solicit, petition for) · fr invoquer (call upon someone for help etc.) · nl oproepen (conjure up by incantation) · ru призыва́ть (conjure up by incantation) · mk по́вика (conjure up by incantation) · nl over afroepen (zich) (bring about as an inevitable consequence) · hu folyamodik (call upon someone for help etc.) · da anråbe (call upon someone for help etc.) · mk по́вика (call upon someone for help etc.) · ru призыва́ть (solicit, petition for) · mk преди́звика (bring about as an inevitable consequence) · da påkalde (conjure up by incantation) · ru вызыва́ть ((computing) cause to execute) · nl oproepen ((computing) cause to execute) · la invocō (call upon someone for help etc.) · hu hivatkozik (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · ru апеллировать (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · bg викам духове (conjure up by incantation) · mi tuhi (conjure up by incantation) · non heita á (call upon someone for help etc.) · uk благати (call upon someone for help etc.) · hu idéz (conjure up by incantation) · fi kutsua ((computing) cause to execute) · fi kutsua (conjure up by incantation) · pl apelować (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · ru взывать (call upon someone for help etc.) · ca invocar (call upon someone for help etc.) · hu segítségül hív (call upon someone for help etc.) · zdj udhukuru (call upon someone for help etc.) · bg призовавам (call upon someone for help etc.) · ru вы́звать (bring about as an inevitable consequence) · fi loihtia (conjure up by incantation) · da medføre (bring about as an inevitable consequence) · it invocare ((computing) cause to execute) · nl inroepen (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · fi pyytää (call upon someone for help etc.) · pl wywoływać ((computing) cause to execute) · fi saada aikaan (bring about as an inevitable consequence) · pl zaapelować (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · de anrufen (call upon someone for help etc.) · it chiedere (call upon someone for help etc.) · hu hív ((computing) cause to execute) · uk закликати (solicit, petition for) · cmn 調動 /调动 ((computing) cause to execute) · it invocare (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · da appellere til (solicit, petition for) · fi anoa (solicit, petition for) · nl aanroepen (call upon someone for help etc.) · hu előidéz (bring about as an inevitable consequence) · fr invoquer (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · pl wywołać ((computing) cause to execute) · fi vedota (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · sa गृणाति (call upon someone for help etc.) · la invocō (conjure up by incantation) · ca invocar (solicit, petition for) · nl beroep doen op (solicit, petition for) · pt invocar (call upon someone for help etc.) · ca invocar (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · it richiedere ((computing) cause to execute) · grc ἐπικαλέω (call upon someone for help etc.) · el επικαλούμαι (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · da påkalde (call upon someone for help etc.) · de sich berühmen (appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority) · ar دَعَا (call upon someone for help etc.) · it appellarsi (solicit, petition for) · mk до́несе (bring about as an inevitable consequence) · eo elvoki (conjure up by incantation) · nl aanroepen ((computing) cause to execute) · da forårsage (bring about as an inevitable consequence) · uk викликати ((computing) cause to execute)