Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Avocation
Avˊo-ca′tion
,Noun.
[L.
avocatio
.] 1.
A calling away; a diversion.
[Obs. or Archaic]
Impulses to duty, and powerful
avocations
from sin. South.
2.
That which calls one away from one’s regular employment or vocation.
Heaven is his vocation, and therefore he counts earthly employments
avocations
. Fuller.
By the secular cares and
avocations
which accompany marriage the clergy have been furnished with skill in common life. Atterbury.
☞ In this sense the word is applied to the smaller affairs of life, or occasional calls which summon a person to leave his ordinary or principal business. Avocation (in the singular) for vocation is usually avoided by good writers.
3.
pl.
Pursuits; duties; affairs which occupy one's time; usual employment; vocation.
There are professions, among the men, no more favorable to these studies than the common
avocations
of women. Richardson.
In a few hours, above thirty thousand men left his standard, and returned to their ordinary
avocations
. Macaulay.
An irregularity and instability of purpose, which makes them choose the wandering avocations of a shepherd, rather than the more fixed pursuits of agriculture.
Buckle.
Webster 1828 Edition
Avocation
AVOCA'TION
,Noun.
1.
The act of calling aside, or diverting from some employment; as an avocation from sin or from business.2.
The business which calls aside. The word is generally used for the smaller affairs of life, or occasional calls which summon a person to leave his ordinary or principal business. The use of this word for vocation is very improper.