different between beckon vs invoke

English

Etymology

From Middle English bekenen, beknen, becnen, beknien, from Old English b?acnian, b?cnian, b?ecnan (“to signal; beckon”), from Proto-West Germanic *baukn?n, *bauknijan (“to signal”), from *baukn (“signal; beacon”). Cognate with Old Saxon b?knian, Old High German bouhnen, Old Norse bákna. More at beacon.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?b?k?n/
• Rhymes: -?k?n

Verb

beckon (third-person singular simple present beckons, present participle beckoning, simple past and past participle beckoned)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To wave or nod to somebody with the intention to make the person come closer.

   • His distant friends, he beckons near.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To seem attractive and inviting

Translations

Noun

beckon (plural beckons)

1. A sign made without words; a beck.
   • c. 1734, Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, A Dissertation on Parties

     At the first beckon.
2. A children's game similar to hide and seek in which children who have been "caught" may escape if they see another hider beckon to them.

English

Alternative forms

• envoke (archaic or nonstandard)

Etymology

From Middle English *invoken, envoken, borrowed from Old French envoquer, from Latin invoc?re (“to call upon”), itself from in- +? vocare (“to call”). Doublet of invocate.

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: in'v?k, IPA^(key): /?n?vo?k/

Verb

invoke (third-person singular simple present invokes, present participle invoking, simple past and past participle invoked)

1. (transitive) To call upon (a person, a god) for help, assistance or guidance.
2. (transitive) To solicit, petition for, appeal to a favorable attitude.
3. (transitive) To call to mind (something) for some purpose.
4. (transitive) To appeal for validation to a (notably cited) authority.
   • 1969, Philip Ziegler, The Black Death, Folio Society 2007, p. 21:

     He invoked cadaveric poisoning as the reason for the high death rate among priests and monks […]

5. (transitive) To conjure up with incantations.

6. (transitive) To bring about as an inevitable consequence.

7. (transitive, computing) To cause (a program or subroutine) to execute.

Synonyms

• (to call upon): invocate (obsolete)
• (appeal for validation): cite, reference, appeal
• (bring about): bring about, incite; see also Thesaurus:incite
• (petition for): solicit, appeal, petition
• (computing, cause a program or subroutine to execute): call, execute, launch, run

Derived terms

• invoker
• invokable
• uninvokable

Related terms

• invocate
• invocation
• invocational
• invocatory

Translations

Further reading

• invoke in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• invoke in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.