avocation means A calling away; a diversion. It carries an Arena rating of 1646, earned across 24 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, avocation ranks #267 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,436 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,889 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #1,990 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
avocation is pronounced /avə(ʊ)ˈkeɪʃən/.
Why “avocation” is a great word
An activity pursued for personal pleasure and satisfaction outside one's primary professional duties. From Latin āvocātiō ("a distraction, calling away"), from āvocō ("to call off, distract"), from ā- ("away") + vocō ("to call"). First recorded in English 1520–30. Unlike "vocation," which implies a principal, often professional, calling, or "recreation," which suggests casual leisure for refreshment, an avocation is a sustained, serious pursuit that forms a secondary identity. It is the meticulous alignment of the telescope in the backyard after the office lights are dimmed, the patient tending of heirloom tomatoes in a small plot behind the garage, the precise, solitary focus of arranging stamps in an album under a pool of lamplight—a private counterpoint to the public score of one’s daily work, and thus a small, sustained rebellion against being wholly defined by it.
Etymology
From Latin āvocātiō (“a distraction”), from āvocō (“to call off, distract”).
noun
- A calling away; a diversion.
- A hobby or recreational or leisure pursuit.e.g.“But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.” — 1934, Robert Frost, Two Tramps in Mud Time:
- That which calls one away from one's regular employment or vocation.
- Pursuits; duties; affairs which occupy one's time; usual employment; vocation.
- The calling of a case from an inferior to a superior court.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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