provoke

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English provoken,^[2][3][4] partly borrowed from Old French provoquer, also provoker and provochier,^[5][3][2][6] and partly directly borrowed from Latin prōvocō (“to call forth, challenge, rouse, appeal”).^[5][3][6][7] Anglo-Norman had purvocher and purvocer from the first half of the 12th century, for inciting someone by a challenge or to violence.^[5] The Latin verb is formed from prō- (“forth”) and vocō (“to call”),^[4][5][8] which is related to vōx (“voice”), from Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- (“to speak”).^[3][4] The OED compares Italian provocare (before 1292) and Spanish provocar (before 1428).^[5] Klein compares convoke and invoke.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Barnhart's first record is from 1392, in medicine, "to induce, stimulate",^[6] and Etymonline also gives this medical sense first.^[3] The OED's first quotation is from before 1425, in the Northern Pauline Epistles (2 Corinthians 9:2), for urging a person to act.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word was used in medicine, of bringing on sleep or vomiting or stimulating the appetite,^[3][6] and of urging a person to action, the general sense dating from about 1400.^[3][5] The sense of rousing someone to anger, which is now the main one, is recorded from about 1425, in Lydgate's Troy Book,^[5] and that of calling forth a feeling or reaction from about 1450.^[5] A second group of senses kept the Latin meaning "to call out": to challenge to a fight (1474–1706), to summon or invoke (1477–1713), and in law to appeal to a higher court (about 1500–1682).^[5][7][2] Weekley compares the English call out for the old sense of challenging.^[9] Johnson (1755) gave "to rouse; to excite by something offensive" as the first sense.^[10] Gray's line "Can honour's voice provoke the silent dust?" shows the old sense of summoning.^[11][9]

Timeline

• 1392 – in medicine, to induce or stimulate.^[6]
• before 1425 – to urge a person to act.^[5]
• c. 1425 – to make angry, to vex.^[5]
• c. 1450 – to call forth a feeling or action.^[5]
• 1474 – to challenge to a fight (obsolete by 1706).^[5]
• 1477 – to summon or invoke (obsolete by 1713).^[5]
• 1661 – poetic, to stir up water.^[5]
• 1773 – noun, a provocation (now rare).^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make someone angry or irritate them, often on purpose: Don't provoke the dog by pulling its tail.^[12][11][5]
2. To call forth a feeling, reaction or action; to cause or evoke it: The decision provoked an outcry.^[11][12][5]
3. To incite or stimulate someone to act in a certain way.^[12][5]
4. (archaic) To stir someone to a desired feeling or action.^[11][5]
5. (obsolete, 1477–1713) To summon or call upon.^[12][5][7]
6. (obsolete, 1474–1706) To challenge someone to a fight.^[5][7]
7. (obsolete) In law, to appeal to a higher court.^[5][7][2]

Word family

• provokingly
• provoker
• overprovoke
• provocation
• provocative
• unprovoked

Related words

• convoke
• evoke
• invoke
• provocateur
• revoke
• vocation
• voice
• vocal

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins