evocative

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin ēvocātīvus (“pertaining to summoning”),^[2][3][4][5] from ēvocātus, the past participle of ēvocō (“to call out, rouse, summon”),^[2][3][6] formed from ex- (“out”) and vocō (“to call”),^[2] which is related to vōx (“voice”), from Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- (“to speak”).^[2] The OED treats the source as Latin rather than Late Latin, and connects it with the verb evocate.^[7] It is related to evoke and vocative.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tending to call or draw forth, followed by of: 1657, in R. Tomlinson's translation of J. de Renou.^[7][4][2]

Semantic evolution

The early sense was the general one of calling something forth.^[7][2] The modern sense, bringing strong images, memories or feelings to mind, follows the verb evoke, which was used of feelings and memories by 1856, after an older use for summoning spirits.^[2][7] The Shorter Oxford and the Concise Oxford give this as the main sense,^[8][9] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged has it as tending to call forth an emotional response.^[4]

Timeline

• 1657 – tending to call or draw forth.^[7][4][2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Bringing strong images, memories or feelings to mind: an evocative photograph of the old harbour.^[9][8][4]
2. Tending to evoke or call forth something; usually followed by of: a smell evocative of childhood summers.^[4][7][10]

Word family

• evocatively
• evocativeness
• unevocative

Related words

• evoke
• evocation
• vocative
• invoke
• voice

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins