avocation

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avocation

a hobby in addition to a principal occupation: The judge’s avocation is acting in little theater productions.; a person’s regular occupation or calling

Not to be confused with:

evocation – a calling forth: an evocation of earlier times

av·o·ca·tion

(ăv′ō-kā′shən)

An activity taken up in addition to one's regular work or profession, usually for enjoyment; a hobby.

[Latin āvocātiō, āvocātiōn-, diversion, from āvocātus, past participle of āvocāre, to call away : ā-, ab-, away; see ab-¹ + vocāre, to call; see wek^w- in Indo-European roots.]

av′o·ca′tion·al adj.

av′o·ca′tion·al·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

avocation

(ˌævəˈkeɪʃən)

1. formal a minor occupation undertaken as a diversion

2. not standard a person's regular job or vocation

[C17: from Latin āvocātiō a calling away, diversion from, from āvocāre to distract, from vocāre to call]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

av•o•ca•tion

(ˌæv əˈkeɪ ʃən)

n.

1. something a person does in addition to a principal occupation, esp. for pleasure; hobby.

2. a person's regular occupation or calling; vocation.

3. Archaic. diversion or distraction.

[1520–30; < Latin āvocātiō distraction]

av`o•ca′tion•al, adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

avocation - an auxiliary activity

hobby, spare-time activity, by-line, pursuit, sideline

pastime, pursuit, interest - a diversion that occupies one's time and thoughts (usually pleasantly); "sailing is her favorite pastime"; "his main pastime is gambling"; "he counts reading among his interests"; "they criticized the boy for his limited pursuits"

spelaeology, speleology - the pastime of exploring caves

Translations

avocation

[ˌævəʊˈkeɪʃən] N (frm) (= minor occupation) → diversión f, distracción f; (= employment) → vocación f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

avocation

n (form: = calling) → Berufung f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in classic literature ?

HOLMCROFT--I snatch a few moments from my other avocations to thank you for your most interesting and delightful letter.

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The majority of the searchers had given up the quest and gone back to their daily avocations, saying that it was plain the children could never be found.

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Becky and the ladies parted with some alacrity, however, and our friend returned to London to commence those avocations with which we find her occupied when this chapter begins.

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In the house of the Working Man or respectable Tradesman -- where the wife is allowed to turn her back upon her husband, while pursuing her household avocations -- there are at least intervals of quiet, when the wife is neither seen nor heard, except for the humming sound of the continuous Peace-cry; but in the homes of the upper classes there is too often no peace.

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Then, while the company were hanging over the fire or loitering through the room, previous to settling to their various morning avocations, he came and leant over the back of my chair, with his face in contact with my curls, and commencing with a quiet little kiss, poured forth the following complaints into my ear:-

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As soon as they were established in their new residence, and her father had entered on the routine of his avocations, she arranged the little household as exactly as if her husband had been there.

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dost thou still persist, Sancho," said Don Quixote, "in saying, thinking, believing, and maintaining that my lady Dulcinea was sifting wheat, that being an occupation and task entirely at variance with what is and should be the employment of persons of distinction, who are constituted and reserved for other avocations and pursuits that show their rank a bowshot off?

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And even these resembled those pleasant avocations which fill up the elegant morning leisure of our fashionable ladies at home.

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Her avocations above having shut out all noise but what she created herself, she knew not that a visitor had arrived within the last few minutes, till, on entering the room, the first object she beheld was a young man whom she had never seen before.

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On that morning when Magua led his silent party from the settlement of the beavers into the forests, in the manner described, the sun rose upon the Delaware encampment as if it had suddenly burst upon a busy people, actively employed in all the customary avocations of high noon.

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He remained gazing after the lawyer until the door closed on both the bearer and the mysterious packet, when he returned slowly to the dwelling, and endeavored to forget his curiosity in the usual avocations of his office.

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In blissful unconsciousness that his nephew was hastening at the utmost speed of four good horses towards his sphere of action, and that every passing minute diminished the distance between them, Ralph Nickleby sat that morning occupied in his customary avocations, and yet unable to prevent his thoughts wandering from time to time back to the interview which had taken place between himself and his niece on the previous day.