evocation

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noun evo·ca·tion \ ˌē-vō-ˈkā-shən , ˌe-və- \

Definition of evocation

1 :the act or fact of evoking :summoning: such as

a :the summoning of a spirit

b :imaginative recreation

an evocation of the past

2 :induction 4e

—

evocator

play \ˈē-vō-ˌkā-tər, ˈe-və-\ noun

See evocation defined for English-language learners

See evocation defined for kids

Examples of evocation in a Sentence

rich evocations of the sights, sounds, and smells of the carnival
the evocation of a simpler time

Recent Examples of evocation from the Web

These are photographs of quiet disorder and imprecision, shadow-work and strategic refusal, evocations of what can neither be hurried along nor extinguished.

— teju cole, New York Times, "Victory in the Shadows," 10 Aug. 2017
Saxon was the John Cheever of gag cartoonists, whose evocations of self-satisfied but oblivious suburban grandees yielded 92 covers and 725 cartoons for The New Yorker.

— cullen murphy, Vanities, "When Fairfield County Was the Comic-Strip Capital of the World," 9 Aug. 2017
Saxon was the John Cheever of gag cartoonists, whose evocations of self-satisfied but oblivious suburban grandees yielded 92 covers and 725 cartoons for The New Yorker.

— cullen murphy, Vanities, "When Fairfield County Was the Comic-Strip Capital of the World," 9 Aug. 2017
Saxon was the John Cheever of gag cartoonists, whose evocations of self-satisfied but oblivious suburban grandees yielded 92 covers and 725 cartoons for The New Yorker.

— cullen murphy, vanityfair.com, "When Fairfield County Was the Comic-Strip Capital of the World," 3 Aug. 2017
This descriptive extravagance occasionally misfires (how can a constellation resemble a stuffed toy squirrel?), but Greer’s evocations of the places Arthur visits offer zesty travelogue pleasures.

— michael upchurch, The Seattle Times, "Hapless hero travels the world in novel about settling for ‘Less’," 30 July 2017
Location aside, the collection, too, was winning, as glamorous an evocation of deconstruction as fashion has lately, if ever, witnessed.

— nicole phelps, Vogue, "Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Images From John Galliano’s Maison Margiela Artisanal Show," 17 July 2017
But a 2014 Vanity Fair piece on her raised her profile among a new generation, one weaned on Joan Didion’s evocations of the dark glamour of the west coast and ready to take L.A. seriously as a literary city.

— zan romanoff, New Republic, "How Eve Babitz and Francesca Lia Block Made Los Angeles Literary," 14 July 2017
Stranger Things has its strengths, though, especially its nerve-wrackingly patient pacing, tense mood, and expert evocation of a Reagan-era suburban utopia corrupted by vile darkness.

— leor galil, Chicago Reader, "Pitchfork loves TV, so Pitchfork loves Survive," 12 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'evocation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of evocation

Latin evocation-, evocatio, from evocare

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1633

See Words from the same year

Other Occult Terms

augury, censor, invocation, lucidity, metempsychosis, mojo, numinous, preternatural, weird, wraith

EVOCATION Defined for English Language Learners

evocation

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noun

Definition of evocation for English Language Learners

: the act of bringing something into the mind or memory : the act of evoking something

Medical Dictionary

evocation

play

noun evo·ca·tion \ ˌē-vō-ˈkā-shən , ˌev-ə- \

medical Definition of evocation

:induction 3b; specifically :initiation of development of a primary embryonic axis

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evocation

Definition of evocation

evocator

Examples of evocation in a Sentence

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Origin and Etymology of evocation

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EVOCATION Defined for English Language Learners

evocation

Definition of evocation for English Language Learners

Medical Dictionary

evocation

medical Definition of evocation

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evocation

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evocator

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Origin and Etymology of evocation

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EVOCATION Defined for English Language Learners

evocation

Definition of evocation for English Language Learners

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evocation

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