English

Alternative forms

• envoke

Verb

invoke ‎(third-person singular simple present invokes, present participle invoking, simple past and past participle invoked)

1. (transitive) To call upon (a person, especially a god) for help, assistance or guidance.
   • 1869, John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women:

     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.

   • 1872, Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species:

     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.

   • 1912, William Sharp McKechnie, The New Democracy and the Constitution:

     It is easier to invoke or to deplore democracy than to say exactly what it is.

2. (transitive) To appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority.

   In certain Christian circles invoking the Bible constitutes irrefutable proof.‎

3. (transitive) To conjure up with incantations.

   This satanist ritual invokes Beelzebub.‎

4. (transitive) To bring about as an inevitable consequence.

   Blasphemy is taboo as it may invoke divine wrath.‎

5. (transitive) To solicit, petition for, appeal to a favorable attitude.

   The envoy invoked the King of Kings's magnanimity to reduce his province's tribute after another draught.‎

6. (transitive, computing) To cause (a program or subroutine) to execute.

   Interactive programs let the users enter choices and invoke the corresponding routines.‎

   • 2011, Stephen Prata, C++ Primer Plus:

     C++ lets you invoke an operator function either by calling the function or by using the overloaded operator with its usual syntax.

Synonyms

• (to call upon): invocate (obsolete)
• (appeal for validation): cite, reference, appeal
• (bring about): bring about, incite
• (petition for): solicit, appeal, petition
• (computing, cause a program or subroutine to execute): call, execute, launch, run

Derived terms

• invoker
• invokable
• uninvokable

Related terms

• invocation
• invocational
• invocatory

Translations

External links

• invoke in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• invoke in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911