invocation

American  

[in-vuh-kay-shuhn] / ˌɪn vəˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

• invocations
  plural

1. the act of invoking or calling upon a deity, spirit, etc., for aid, protection, inspiration, or the like; supplication.

2. any petitioning or supplication for help or aid.

3. a form of prayer invoking God's presence, especially one said at the beginning of a religious service or public ceremony.

4. an entreaty for aid and guidance from a Muse, deity, etc., at the beginning of an epic or epiclike poem.

5. the act of calling upon a spirit by incantation.

6. the magic formula used to conjure up a spirit; incantation.

7. the act of calling upon or referring to something, as a concept or document, for support and justification in a particular circumstance.

8. the enforcing or use of a legal or moral precept or right.

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invocation British  

/ ˌɪnvəˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of invoking or calling upon some agent for assistance

2. a prayer asking God for help, forgiveness, etc, esp as part of a religious service

3. an appeal for inspiration and guidance from a Muse or deity at the beginning of a poem

4. 1. the act of summoning a spirit or demon from another world by ritual incantation or magic

   2. the incantation used in this act

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preinvocation
  noun
• invocational
  adjective
• invocatory
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• invocations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of invocation

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English invocacio(u)n, from Latin invocātiōn-, stem of invocātiō “a calling upon”; see invocate, -ion

Explanation

An invocation is an appeal to a higher power for help, such as a prayer for serenity or a plea to the rain gods during a drought. An invocation often refers to an appeal to something not of this world, such as a god or a spirit, but it can involve an appeal to any higher power, even one that is flesh and blood. During a close basketball game, for example, you may mutter an invocation to the former NBA star Michael Jordan asking that your team’s star player somehow gain the power to hit his jump shots. The word invocation can also be used in the sense of invoking a notable authority to support a position. If you say, “But my mom said I should never wear cheap clothing,” for example, that is an invocation of your mom in support of your desire to buy designer jeans.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

invocation invocations

"The empty invocation of national security is not a blank check to punish and retaliate against government critics," Judge Rita Lin said in a 59-page decision seen by AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

Varun Soni, USC’s dean of religious and spiritual life, delivered the ceremony’s invocation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

Despite a halfhearted invocation of those words here, nearly every scene of the movie is a disappointment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

While neither of the “Devil Wears Prada” movies revolve around Christianity, the invocation of the devil taps into an older moral rhetoric.

From Salon ● May 17, 2026

First an invocation by a Negro preacher; then a woman spoke of what was happening to the children.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Mr. Sorkin attempts to dramatize this discussion via heavy use of charts and repeated invocations of a figure: 64% of those who joined extremist groups on Facebook were directed there by the platform’s own algorithm.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

We’ve had somewhere around 30 invocations of the statute across American history.

From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2026

Comparisons to the late-1990s dot-com bubble abound, as do invocations of the crash that followed.

From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2025

It is clear from the context of her repeated invocations that she uses Venn diagrams to clarify complicated situations.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2024

They spoke of finding-spells, and invocations, and those Answerable Questions which only the Master Patterner of Roke can ask.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin