evoke

[ih-vohk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR evoke ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), e·voked, e·vok·ing.

to call up or produce (memories, feelings, etc.): to evoke a memory.

to elicit or draw forth: His comment evoked protests from the shocked listeners.

to call up; cause to appear; summon: to evoke a spirit from the dead.

to produce or suggest through artistry and imagination a vivid impression of reality: a short passage that manages to evoke the smells, colors, sounds, and shapes of that metropolis.

Origin of evoke

1615–25; < Latin ēvocāre, equivalent to ē- e-¹ + vocāre to call (akin to vōx voice)

Related formse·vok·er, nounun·e·voked, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for evoking

invoke, recall, elicit, arouse, provoke, conjure, extort, evolve, awaken, waken, raise, milk, excite, summon, evince, call, rally, rouse, extract, educe

Examples from the Web for evoking

Contemporary Examples of evoking

Scott, who died Sunday at 49, could go from evoking a Baptist preacher to quoting Public Enemy.
Remembering ESPN’s Sly, Cocky, and Cool Anchor Stuart Scott
Stereo Williams
January 4, 2015
She toddled off to the playground, still jabbering to herself, evoking giggles from the Hawa staff.
The Life of a Liberian Child with Ebola
Sarah Crowe
November 5, 2014
It’s written in a ‘50s script, like the title card to I Love Lucy, evoking Old Hollywood.
Hollywood Turns Against the Famed Beverly Hills Hotel Over the Sultan of Brunei’s Anti-Gay Stance
Marlow Stern
May 5, 2014
Tarnoff is at his best in evoking the atmosphere of the city that shaped them all.
How Mark Twain Became Mark Twain by Going to California
Wendy Smith
March 20, 2014
And Jagger is even better than Dylan at evoking the darker emotions: fear, confusion, paranoia, lust.
Is Mick Jagger Too Old to Rock?
Andrew Romano
July 26, 2013

Historical Examples of evoking

And the Emperor Nicholas was conscious of evoking this rapture and deliberately aroused it.
Father Sergius
Leo Tolstoy
The Emperor's manifesto was read, evoking enthusiasm, and then all moved about discussing it.
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
I felt that I was not evoking much sympathy for my messmate, and I changed my attack.
Sail Ho!
George Manville Fenn
While we sat, evoking the ghosts of the past, our hearts were drawn together.
The Confession of a Fool
August Strindberg
Plagiarism was seemingly proved by evoking the aid of the deadly parallel.
The Fiction Factory
John Milton Edwards

British Dictionary definitions for evoking

evoke

verb (tr)

to call or summon up (a memory, feeling, etc), esp from the past

to call forth or provoke; produce; elicithis words evoked an angry reply

to cause (spirits) to appear; conjure up

Derived Formsevocable (ˈɛvəkəbəl), adjectiveevoker, noun

Word Origin for evoke

C17: from Latin ēvocāre to call forth, from vocāre to call

xref

See evince, invoke

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for evoking

evoke

1620s, from French évoquer or directly from Latin evocare "call out, rouse, summon" (see evocation). Often more or less with a sense of "calling spirits," or being called by them. Related: Evoked; evokes; evoking.