call forth, as an emotion, feeling, or response
To "evoke" is to "call out" or bring forth a memory or feeling. Words have connotations that may evoke certain positive or negative feelings. You can have an evocative experience when you revisit a place that was familiar to you as a child.
annoy continually or chronically
They have damaged streets and insulted the police -
them into using tear gas.
BBC (Jun 12, 2013)
The word "provoke" has a negative connotation, suggesting violence or retaliation in response to continued harassment. You know better than to tease or bother a dog, for example, because even the friendliest dogs can be provoked into harming you if you frighten or annoy them. Few dogs will attack without provocation.
With the prefix "re-" meaning "back" and the root "vok-" meaning "to call," we can see how the word "revoke" is used when a licence, certificate, passport, or privilege is revoked. Words that we say or write to others, however, are irrevocable: We can say we're sorry for having said them, but we can't truly take them back.
push for something
With the prefix "ad-" meaning "toward" or "forward" and the root "voc-" meaning "to call," we can understand how an advocate (noun) is someone who advocates (verb) for a person or cause by speaking in its favor.
request earnestly; ask for aid or protection
Another word for "prayer" is "invocation," the "calling in" of God, usually in honor of a serious occasion. Under the United States Constitution, as seen in the example sentence, defendants are said to "invoke their Fifth Amendment rights" to protect them against having to testify against themselves in court.
be deliberately ambiguous or unclear
With "equi-" meaning "same" and "voc-" meaning "to call," the word "equivocate" is used to refer to statements that manage to be both true and untrue at the same time. People equivocate when their purpose is to deceive but not be guilty of actual lying. Equivocating is, simply, a clever form of lying by knowing how to twist words.
clearly defined or formulated
Scientists have been loath to answer such questions in
Slate (Dec 7, 2012)
To give a clear yes or no is to be "unequivocal." With "un-" meaning "not," "equi-" meaning "same," and "voc-" meaning "to call," we can see how this word is put together. When we ask a direct question, we want an unequivocal, not an equivocal, answer.
conspicuously and offensively loud
Their cry increased in volume,
, echoing in the trees.
With "voc-" meaning "to call" and "fer-" meaning "to carry," we can see how this word is put together. At a football, basketball, soccer, or baseball game, fans are expected to be vociferous, but at a golf or tennis competition, fans are expected to be quiet. Although an opera singer has a loud voice, she would not be called vociferous on stage (but divas are known to be vociferous in their demands off stage).
a group gathered in response to a summons
With "con-" meaning "together" and "voc-" meaning "to call," we can see how this word is put together. A convocation is similar to a congregation, but a bit more official and formal.
the particular occupation for which you are trained
He found his real
in middle life.
Certain professions are often said to be "vocations," or "callings" because of the strong feelings that people have about choosing them. For example, priests and nuns often refer to having a "vocation" to enter lives of religious service.
an auxiliary activity
She took up even the most thoroughly feminine
, and learned to sew, and knit, and cook.
Adams, W. H. Davenport
An avocation is a hobby, an enjoyable activity that you do for the joy of it. With the prefix "a-" meaning, in this case, "away form" and "voc-" meaning "to call," it is interesting to note that your avocation, your hobby, calls you away from your daily obligations.