evocation

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

Updated on: 8 Apr 2018

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

As an evocation of the rough-and-tumble heyday of second-wave feminism, this is remarkably flat, and descriptions of the environment at Loci are no more textured.

— sam sacks, WSJ, "Fiction Chronicle: The Feminist Circle of Life," 30 Mar. 2018
Some make references to traditional Chinese melodies, some to Chinese aesthetics or ideas — pentatonic scales, for example — and some to the kind of evocations of nature (mountains, flowers) that are widespread in Chinese culture.

— jacob dreyer, New York Times, "Chinese Composers With an Ear to the World," 12 Jan. 2018
The pianist was a master of evocation by way of technique, finding a toy-piano color at one point and avian violence at another.

— peter dobrin, Philly.com, "At PCMS recital, Pierre-Laurent Aimard is easier to admire than love," 14 Mar. 2018
An etching of Vincent Van Gogh on his deathbed made by Paul Gachet, his doctor, veers from the show’s often lurid evocations of death and violence to something more personal: an intimate portrait of a man who has taken his life.

— cate mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, "Skulls, and other things, beneath the skin in ‘Killers & Thrillers’," 14 Mar. 2018
So while the novel’s gilded prose calls back to a bygone age, its evocation of that age is strikingly unstable, blurred by conflicting accounts and haunted by gaps and omissions.

— sam sacks, WSJ, "Fiction Chronicle: A Closeted Past, Partially Recaptured," 9 Mar. 2018
That tracks closely with Trump’s campaign rhetoric, with its romantic evocations of churning factories and bustling mines, an America whose return to greatness would be announced with the clang of machinery, the spewing of soot.

— alexander nazaryan, Newsweek, "How the EPA's Scott Pruitt Became the Most Dangerous Member of Trump’s Cabinet," 8 Feb. 2018
The writer’s evocation of Europe on the verge of war is deft and intensely cinematic.

— adam woog, The Seattle Times, "New in crime fiction: a wicked noir, a World War II-era thriller," 23 Feb. 2018
But, though Trump’s modern evocation of the statue’s meaning was clear and straightforward, the complicated history of American freedom is built into that statue.

— lily rothman, Time, "The Surprisingly Complicated Symbolism of the Freedom Statue Mentioned in Trump's State of the Union," 1 Feb. 2018

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

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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

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

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

Recent Examples of evocation from the Web

Origin and Etymology of evocation

Other Occult Terms

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

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

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evocation

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