Make Your Point > Archived Issues > INVOKE
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pronounce
INVOKE:
Say it "in VOKE."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Our word invoke traces back to the Latin vox (or vocem), which means "word, speech, language, voice, sound, cry, call, or utterance."
As I've mentioned before, vox appears in all kinds of terms we use today, from the everyday (voice, vocal, and vocabulary) to the extra-fancy (v___ voce: "by the living voice, said out loud;" s____ voce: "under the voice, said quietly or secretly").
Can you recall those last two terms?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
The word "invoke" has Latin bits meaning "to call upon."
In English, it first meant "to pray, to summon, to magically conjure up: to call upon some god or other supernatural being for help."
We can still use it that way. To invoke something is to call it up (as if your words are magic) so that it can help you or protect you.
More loosely, we often talk about people invoking laws or rules: mentioning them, or calling them up, so that they can be put into effect. In other words, to invoke a rule is to say that it applies to your situation.
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
Verb, the transitive kind: "He invoked an old rule."
Other forms:
invoked, invoking, invocation, invocative (or invocatory)
how to use it:
"Invoke" is a formal, common word with a mystical, religious, or legal tone.
Most often, we talk about people invoking a law, a rule, or a principle, so that they can get what they want or need (or what they think is fair).
You could also say that a person invokes a fact, a statistic, a theory, a priority, or some other idea or piece of evidence as they try to make an argument. When you pick "invoke" in these cases, you're suggesting that the person is conjuring up or summoning forth the idea, as if the words they're speaking have a magical power. If that's not the tone you want, just go with "cite" or "point out" instead.
examples:
"[Milo] had then raised the price of food in his mess halls so high that all officers and enlisted men had to turn over all their pay to him in order to eat... When he encountered a wave of enemy resistance to this attack, he stuck to his position without regard for his safety or reputation and gallantly invoked the law of supply and demand."
— Joseph Heller, Catch-22, 1961
"[Experiences of dreaming something before it actually happens] are more rationally accounted for by coincidence... There's no need to invoke any special parapsychological abilities; the ordinariness of apparently predictive dreams does not need any explaining."
— John Allen Paulos, Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, 1988
has this page helped you understand "invoke"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "invoke" without saying "summon" or "call forth."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) tried to stop (someone else) from doing something, invoking (some important fact or need)."
Example: "Caroline had begun to imitate Betty Jean's singing of 'O Holy Night'... She ended the performance with a mournful shriek more than a little off pitch and looked around, grinning for her family’s approval. All the way through I had expected my parents to stop her, invoking, if nothing else, the nearness of the neighbors."
— Katherine Paterson, Jacob Have I Loved, 1980
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game this month is Apt Adjective Anagrams!
I'll invent a person's name and a brief description, and you unscramble the letters in their name to form an adjective that aptly describes the person or the person's situation.
For example: Carl Rebe has three advanced degrees. You rearrange the letters in "Carl Rebe" to form the adjective "cerebral," meaning "brainy, smart, or intellectual.” Sentimental movies always bring Martin Devesto to tears? He’s demonstrative. Lilian Tulip is dainty in the extreme? She’s lilliputian. Tia Fauns runs a sweatshop and is filthy rich? Perhaps she made a bargain with the devil, because her lifestyle is Faustian.
To see the answer, scroll all the way down.
Try this one today: Whenever you see Tony Bua, he's smiling, humming, whistling, thumbs-upping, or high-fiving.
review this word:
A. CLEAN.
B. DRESS.
C. REJECT.
2.
In Becoming, Michelle Obama describes how her husband sang "Amazing Grace" at the funeral of a victim of a hate crime. She says: "It was a simple invocation of hope, _____."
A. a call to persist
B. a beacon of persistence
C. a milestone of persistence
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.
A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Our word invoke traces back to the Latin vox (or vocem), which means "word, speech, language, voice, sound, cry, call, or utterance."
The word "invoke" has Latin bits meaning "to call upon."
Part of speech:
"Invoke" is a formal, common word with a mystical, religious, or legal tone.
"[Milo] had then raised the price of food in his mess halls so high that all officers and enlisted men had to turn over all their pay to him in order to eat... When he encountered a wave of enemy resistance to this attack, he stuck to his position without regard for his safety or reputation and gallantly invoked the law of supply and demand."
Explain the meaning of "invoke" without saying "summon" or "call forth."
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone) tried to stop (someone else) from doing something, invoking (some important fact or need)."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |