Vocare

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To summon or call upon someone for a purpose ; to invoke or request help or presence ; to name or designate through a formal utterance
2. Refers to requesting someone's attendance or aid ; signifies formally identifying or addressing by a spoken declaration ; denotes seeking intervention or assistance
3. Describes the act of calling, naming, or appealing through speech ; applies to formally designating someone ; encompasses seeking support by invoking or addressing directly

Etymology: "Vocare" is a Latin verb meaning "to call," and its family is one of the most productive in the language. It is the root of English "vocal," "vocation," "invoke," "advocate," and "provoke," among many others. The verb itself comes from "vox" (genitive "vocis"), "voice," which is the source of the same stem in these English words. The verb's core sense is calling aloud, summoning someone by voice. From that literal act came the extended uses that English later inherited: calling someone to a legal case, calling on a god in prayer (hence "invoke"), and calling a person to a particular role or life, which gave us "vocation" in its older sense of a divine calling. The prefixes show the range: "ad-" ("to") gives "advocate," one called to speak for another, and "pro-" ("forth") gives "provoke," literally to call forth. Recognising this root explains a good deal of English vocabulary, since many words that seem unrelated to voices or calling share it. Learners who spot "voc-" in a word can usually guess that the idea involves summoning or speaking out.

Synonyms: call, summon, invite, name

Antonyms: dismiss, ignore, reject