Definition of "invocation" []

• The act or an instance of invoking, especially an appeal to a higher power for assistance. (noun)
• A prayer or other formula used in invoking, as at the opening of a religious service. (noun)
• The act of conjuring up a spirit by incantation. (noun)
• An incantation used in conjuring. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The judge was making the point that the Pledge, in its current incarnation, is only about 50 – 60 years old and that the language “under God” was inserted at a particular time in response to concerns of that time and that the Pledge is not some sacrosanct invocation from the founders."
• "In The Greatest Prayer, Crossan argues that Christianity's best-known invocation is misunderstood and undervalued in today's society."
• "A kind of parental voodoo invocation is responsible for the rise of Leo, Keira and even Amelie on the list of popular baby names"