invocatio

Forms

invocātiō f (genitive invocātiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin invocō + -tiō.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quintilian (c. 35–95/96) first has it, for an orator's invocation of the gods or goddesses as a rhetorical device.^[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Christian writers used it for calling on God in prayer: Tertullian speaks of an invocation of divine judgement, and Ambrose writes ubi ara, ibi invocatio dei, “where there is an altar, there is the calling on God”.^[5] It also served for the words of an invocation, and for calling on angels, demons and the souls of the dead.^[5] Isidore of Seville has invocationes divinae.^[6]

In the Middle Ages it named the calling on a saint to intercede or on a secular legal authority,^[7] prayer, the conjuring of demons, and even a sounding,^[8] an incantation, and in invocatio armorum a call to arms.^[9] English borrowed it in the late 14th century through Old French invocacion.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it for the invocation of the gods in a speech.^[2][4]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian speaks of the invocation of divine judgement.^[5][4]
• c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville writes of divine invocations.^[6][4]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as invocation.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. An invocation, calling upon the gods, especially as a rhetorical device.^[2][3]
2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Calling on God or the saints, prayer; the words of an invocation.^[5][11][8]
3. (Medieval Latin) The conjuring of demons, an incantation.^[8][9]
4. (Medieval Latin) An appeal to a secular legal authority.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) invocatio armorum: a call to arms.^[9]

Related words

• invoco

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson