evoke Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
    raise; fire; enkindle; elicit; arouse; kindle; provoke.
    • arouse pity
    • raise a smile
    • evoke sympathy
  2. verb evoke or provoke to appear or occur
    provoke; call forth; kick up.
    • Her behavior provoked a quarrel between the couple
  3. verb deduce (a principle) or construe (a meaning)
    elicit; draw out; extract; educe.
    • We drew out some interesting linguistic data from the native informant
  4. verb summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
    arouse; raise; invoke; conjure up; bring up; call down; call forth; put forward; stir; conjure.
    • raise the specter of unemployment
    • he conjured wild birds in the air
    • call down the spirits from the mountain
  5. verb call to mind
    suggest; paint a picture.
    • this remark evoked sadness

WordNet

E*voke" transitive verb
Etymology
L. evocare; e out + vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice: cf. F évoquer. See Voice, and cf. Evocate.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Evoked ; present participle & verbal noun Evoking
Definitions
  1. To call out; to summon forth.
    To evoke the queen of the fairies. T. Warton.
    A requlating discipline of exercise, that whilst evoking the human energies, will not suffer them to be wasted. De Quincey.
  2. To call away; to remove from one tribunal to another. R. "The cause was evoked to Rome." Hume.

Webster 1913