invoked

[in-vohkt]

adjective

1. (of a deity, saint, Muse, etc.) petitioned, prayed to, or called upon for help or aid.

   On all four sides of the obelisk there are inscriptions associating the invoked deities with the cardinal points of the compass.

2. prayed or asked for with earnest desire.

   Many drivers who have miraculously escaped from car accidents credit the invoked protection of St. Christopher.

3. declared to be in effect.

   While overseas he was detained by local police for allegedly misstating his company's registered assets—a rarely invoked charge.

4. appealed to or mentioned, as for confirmation or justification.

   This logic of caution is most recognizable in the often invoked slogan that “risk management is good business.”

5. (of a spirit) called forth or summoned by incantation.

   The initiation ritual is a one-to-one encounter with an initiator, who acts as agent for the invoked powers in the spirit world.

6. Computers.,  displayed, opened, or executed as a result of clicking on a link, entering a search term, changing a parameter, etc..

   If you click on the Back arrow, the invoked view will replace the current view in the navigation history.

7. caused or brought about by a certain thing or in a certain way (often used in combination).

   The report ignored the millions of refugees fleeing the recent military-invoked escalation of violence in the region.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of invoke.

Other Word Forms

• uninvoked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of invoked¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; invoke ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; invoke ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Macron invoked special constitutional powers to bypass parliament, angering protesters and opposition leaders.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The Dutch government said its economic affairs ministry had invoked its Goods Availability Act over "acute signals of serious governance shortcomings" within Nexperia.

Read more on BBC

He suggested the law could be invoked “if people were being killed and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up.”

Read more on Salon

They said the president invoked the tariffs not to raise revenue but to “rectify America’s country-killing trade deficits and to stem the flood of fentanyl and other lethal drugs across our borders.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

When President Cleveland sent troops to break up a railroad strike and tamp down mob violence against Chinese immigrants, he invoked the Insurrection Act.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• imposed 
• prescribed 
• required www.thesaurus.com
• sanctioned