revocation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English revocacioun,^[2][3][4] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman revocacion and Middle French revocation,^[5][3][6] and partly borrowed from Latin revocātiō (“a calling back, recall”).^[5][3][2][7] In Anglo-Norman the noun is recorded from the second quarter of the 13th century, meaning a recall from abroad or exile, an annulment, and a withdrawal.^[8] In French it meant the return of humankind to righteousness (end of the 13th century), cancellation (about 1300), the drawing back of something, first of the bodily humours (before 1365), and the recall of a person (1400).^[5] The Latin noun is formed from revocātus, the past participle of revocō (“to call back, rescind”),^[7][9][10] from re- (“back”) and vocō (“to call”),^[7] which is related to vōx (“voice”).^[7] In post-classical Latin it also meant retraction or recantation.^[5] The OED compares Old Occitan revocacion, Spanish revocación and Italian revocazione.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The revoking or annulling of something, such as a decree or grant: about 1400, in an early Scots text.^[5] Barnhart dates the sense of retracting an oath or vow to about 1410,^[3] and Etymonline gives the early 15th century for recall from exile and retraction.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 15th century the word was used for annulling a law, decree or grant, for retracting an oath or opinion, and for recalling a person from exile.^[5][2] Lydgate's Fall of Princes (before 1439) has it for a recall from exile,^[2][5] and the Middle English Dictionary records a time of revocation, one of the ages of the world, from Moses to the birth of Christ;^[2] the OED compares the same term in medieval Latin and Old French.^[5] The recall of an ambassador or representative is a later use of the same sense,^[5] while from 1574 it also meant drawing something back or retrieving it, now rare.^[5] Johnson (1755) gave the act of recalling and the state of being recalled, quoting Hooker on the revocation of Calvin.^[11] The senses of recall and of retraction have since become rare,^[5][4] and the word now chiefly means cancellation, especially in law: the annulling of a will, the withdrawal of an offer or the cancellation of a licence.^[12][13][4]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – the revoking or annulling of a decree, grant, licence or the like.^[5]
• before 1428 – the retraction of an oath, opinion or statement.^[5] Barnhart dates it to about 1410.^[3]
• before 1439 – the recall of a person, especially from exile.^[5][2]
• 1574 – the recall or drawing back of a thing.^[5]
• 1579–80 – repentance, reformation of character (obsolete).^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of revoking, or the state of being revoked; cancellation, annulment or repeal: the revocation of his driving licence.^{[12][4][14][5]}
2. (law) The cancellation of a legal instrument, especially a will, or the withdrawal of an offer or a power of attorney.^[12][13]
3. (archaic) The recalling of a person, as from exile, or the state of being recalled.^[4][5][11]
4. (rare or obsolete) Recantation or retraction of an oath, opinion or statement.^[5][4]

Word family

• revocatory
• nonrevocation

Related words

• revoke
• revocable
• irrevocable
• vocation
• invocation
• evocation
• provocation

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
14. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin