convoke
Americanverb (used with object)
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convokes,
present (3rd person singular)
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convoked,
past participle, past
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convoking
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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convokesimple
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convokessimple
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have convokedperfect
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has convokedperfect
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am convokingprogressive
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are convokingprogressive
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is convokingprogressive
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have been convokingperfect progressive
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has been convokingperfect progressive
Past
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convokedsimple
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had convokedperfect
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was convokingprogressive
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were convokingprogressive
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had been convokingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of convoke
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Middle French convoquer, from Latin convocāre, from con- con- + vocāre “to call”
Explanation
To convoke is to call to a meeting, especially a formal meeting. When planning military strategy, a nation's leader might convoke her trusted advisors and top generals. Convoke emerged in the 14th century, from the Latin word convocare — "to call together;" the definition stands today unchanged. Use convoke when you are speaking of people or a group being summoned for an official gathering, like the kind the government or a large organization holds.
Vocabulary lists containing convoke
John F. Kennedy's Address to the American People on the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
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Second Treatise of Government
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That would ease passage of some of Castro's legislative priorities, but her pledge to convoke an assembly to rewrite the country's constitution could still be blocked since that would require a two-thirds majority.
From Reuters ● Dec. 1, 2021
Fernandez currently has a working majority in both houses of Congress, but would need two-thirds' congressional support to convoke an elected constitutional assembly.
From Reuters ● Oct. 18, 2012
Messori explained that if a Pope decided he was no longer capable of leading the Church, he would convoke a Consistory of all the world's cardinals at the Vatican.
From Time ● Jan. 27, 2010
Opéra Bouffe "His Majesty" Cyril I, "Tsar of All the Russias," decided to convoke a "Crown Council of all Russian Grand Dukes who recognized him as Emperor."
From Time Magazine Archive
Hardly possessed of the government, they have hastened to convoke the people of Paris to the ballot-boxes.
From History of the Commune of 1871 by P. Lissagary
Francis turns 87 in December and whether he convokes another consistory next year or in 2025 depends on how long he lives.
From Reuters ● Sep. 30, 2023
He is the supreme authority of the state and commander in chief of the armed forces, concludes treaties and declares war, convokes and dissolves Parliament and appoints and dismisses ministers.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sands, Mahlon D., convokes conference of revenue reformers, 353.
From The Life of Lyman Trumbull by Horace White
Convoked by Hygd, 18; Beowulf elected by, 19; Belé convokes, 252; Ragnar recognized by, 270.
From Legends of the Middle Ages Narrated with Special Reference to Literature and Art by H. A. (Hélène Adeline) Guerber
In the Olympic games, which he founded, and to which he convokes the whole of Greece every four years, why does he only crown the victorious athletes with wild olive?
From The Eleven Comedies, Volume 2 by Aristophanes
Usually ambassadors are convoked by the Secretariat of State.
From Reuters ● Feb. 25, 2022
The pope convoked all Chilean bishops to Rome for days of intense meetings, at the conclusion of which all 34 offered their resignation, a first.
From New York Times ● May 21, 2018
“It is very important that an extraordinary Synod has been convoked on the theme of the pastoral of the family,” Vatican spokesperson Fr.
From Time ● Oct. 8, 2013
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2013
But Margaret would not give in, and the States were convoked again at Gertruydenberg.
From The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria by Eleanor E. Tremayne
Ambassador Andrew Young, Football Coach Tom Landry and other notables in convoking 800 "national leaders" to a glittering "Congress of the Laity" in Los Angeles next February.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Government, he said, would consult "all leaders" before convoking the Assembly, would also "consider a reasonable increase" in delegates.
From Time Magazine Archive
This could well mean a convoking of something like the shortlived Geneva Conference that met just after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
From Time Magazine Archive
Meanwhile, American officials at United Nations headquarters discussed with other Western diplomats the possibility of convoking an urgent session of the Security Council.
From Time Magazine Archive
The king, finding at last that there was no hope of his deriving any assistance from without, signed the ordinances appointing a new ministery, and convoking a national assembly.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 344, June, 1844 by Various
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