Convocacioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of calling people together by summons ; a formal assembly of clergy or members of an institution, especially a church synod
2. Summoning a group to gather for a purpose ; a solemn meeting of church officials or other official members of a body
3. The process of formally calling an assembly together ; a gathering of ecclesiastical leaders or the members of a learned body

Etymology: To call a meeting in Latin was literally to call it out loud. "Convocare" joins "con-", meaning "together", with "vocare", "to call", and "vocare" itself comes from "vox", "voice". A convocation was therefore a gathering brought together by a summons, the kind a herald or a bell might announce. Middle English took the noun from Old French "convocacion", which came from the Latin "convocatio", the act of calling together. The early English sense stayed close to that root: an assembly gathered by a call. The term was later applied especially to assemblies of the clergy, such as the church synods of Canterbury and York, where the same idea of a summoned gathering still applies.