avoco

Forms

āvocō (present infinitive āvocāre, perfect active āvocāvī, supine āvocātum); first conjugation^[1] An old passive infinitive āvocārier occurs in a Republican law.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin ab- + vocō (“to call”).^[3][1] De Vaan takes vocō as a denominative verb from the stem of vōx (“voice”), which he traces to Proto-Italic *wōkʷs and Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs (“voice”).^[4] Cognate with Umbrian subocau (“I invoke”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it of Antony being called away from Mutina;^[3] a Republican law already has the old passive infinitive.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

It means to call or summon away, as Livy's “let him withdraw and call the plebs away”, or to another place, as the consuls who called the senate to the Flaminian meadows.^[3] Livy also uses it of taking over a meeting from another, and in the Digest it means to withdraw property.^[3] Of things it is to divert, as Columella's sap and Pliny the Elder's eyes turned away from the earth.^[3] Most often it is to dissuade or distract, as Cicero's attempt to draw Pompey away from his union with Caesar, and his claim that pleasure never kept him from anyone's need;^[3] Seneca uses it of occupying the mind.^[3] Wiktionary also gives to amuse or cheer, and in law to reclaim or revoke.^[1] Church Latin glosses it “withdraw, call away, remove, recall, divert, revoke, distract”.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of Antony called away and of distraction.^[3][6]
• 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of calling away the plebs and the senate.^[3][6]
• 1st century AD – Columella of diverting sap.^[3][6]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of occupying the mind.^[3][6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To call away, summon away; to call to another place.^[3][2][5][1]
2. To take over a meeting;^[3][1] (law) to withdraw property.^[3][1]
3. To turn aside, divert; to turn away the eyes.^[3][1]
4. To dissuade, draw away from a course or pursuit.^[3][1]
5. To distract; to occupy, amuse.^[3][1]

Word family

• āvocāmentum
• āvocātiō
• āvocātor

Related words

• āvocātrīx
• vocō
• vōx
• revocō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de